A magical experience
by niamhbec
Summary: Emma Blackwell from a muggle family is sent off to Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry, when strange things start happening. Along with her friends Fred and George she must figure out what's going on.
1. Chapter 1

September 1st, 1989. The first day of the school year in Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Emma Blackwell had received her letter of admission one week before her eleventh birthday on August 24th, neither of her parents were wizards so it came as quite a shock to her. Her first experience around magical people had left her in awe, she went to a bank and exchanged normal money for wizard money and bought everything her letter had told her to get. Robes, some weird sounding books, a cauldron, a wand; hers had been 10 inches made of wood from a cherry tree and its core was unicorn hair. She had scoffed when the wand seller had told her this, earning her a cold glare from the man before she quickly tried to defend herself 'but, I mean unicorns? They're not real, are they?' her parents who had shuffled to the front of the store after a mild explosion due to nine-inch mahogany wand, coughed to get Emma's attention and gave a look that encourage her to be politer to the man behind the desk. The cough also got the wand sellers attention. 'it's quite alright, but you have quite a bit to learn about magic young lady.' The man said while putting the wand back in the box and handing it over to the girl, she had thanked him and made her way out, the only thing left to buy on the list was "an Owl, OR a Cat, OR a Toad."

She hadn't been sure she wanted any until she saw a beautiful barn owl, sitting outside a shop in a silver cage, it was different shades of brown with a white face and chest, it had been preening itself, Emma hadn't even bothered asking her parents before she ran towards it. She had heard her mother laughing at her enthusiasm, 'you can get it if you have enough but I'm not exchanging any more money for it!' Emma had squealed before picking up the cage and running inside, the bird was a bit flustered due to the sudden movements and the old plump woman had seemed flustered due to the young girl bursting into her relatively quiet shop, as quiet as a shop full of animals can be that is. luckily, she had enough for the owl and the lady had told her she made a great choice 'you can use him to send letters to your family back home.'

She was ecstatic! She'd never had a pet before and her firs one was an owl! 'what are you going to call him?' her mother had asked smiling at her excitement. 'his name is Rufus' she had said while stroking his feathers through the cage. 'that's an interesting name for an owl' her dad had smirked, 'you should have called him,' 'dad don't do it' 'barney!' Emma and her mum groaned while her dad laughed for too long. That day had been great, because her parents had been there with her, but now? Sitting on a train alone on her way to a magical boarding school where she knew no one! how was she supposed to cope?


	2. Chapter 2

Emma tried not to think about how nervous she was, or how she would be away from her family for longer than she ever had been before. She focused more on how cool it would be to learn magic, and that she could send as many letters home as she wanted. Speaking of letters, Rufus, Emma's barn owl was sitting asleep in his cage next to her, she put her fingers through the bars to stroke him but her fingers weren't quite long enough to reach him.

Emma spent most of the ride trying to perfect her introduction,

'Hello, my name is Emma Blackwell'

'Hi, I'm Emma Blackwell'

'Hey, I'm Emma'

She felt a little bid ridiculous but it helped calm her nerves a bit, she was determined to try and make at least one friend this year. That was her goal. Just then the compartment door slid open and two identical red headed boys stuck their heads in.

'Hey, can we sit in here?' one of the boys asked confidently

'Sure!' Emma beamed, this was her chance to make friends. 'I'm Emma, what are your names?' she asked while giving a little wave.

'I'm Fred, and he's George' Fred said gesturing to himself and his brother.

'So… your Fred and your George' Emma reaffirmed, trying her best not to mix them up

'No, _I'm_ Fred and _He's_ George' said the boy Emma thought was George.

'Wait, so… what?' Emma's head started spinning, who were these boys and why did they decide to come into her compartment just to confuse the hell out of her. The two boys burst into laughter leaving Emma even more confused than before.

'Just kidding, you were right first time' said George

'Oh, are all wizards like this?' Emma sighed, still mildly confused as to what had just happened. The two brothers shared a glance and looked questioningly at Emma.

'Guessing your parents are muggles?' asked George

'WHAT is a muggle! Are you messing me around again?' Emma said, afraid to play along with anything the boys had to say.

'No? A muggle. A non-magic user, that's what we call them' Fred said defensively

'In that case, yes, I suppose my parents are mudgles' Emma admitted hesitantly

'Muggles.' George added

'whatever' Emma said brushing it off, 'Do you… do you want to see a photo of them?' she asked nervously.

'Might as well if you've got one.' Fred shrugged

Emma pulled a neat and surprisingly un-creased picture of her and her parents out of her trouser pocket, Emma in the middle, her hair had been far shorter in the photo than it was as the time and was very similar to her mothers who, in the photo, was standing on her right side with her father who had contributed to her many freckles was on her left. Emma looked over the picture before turning it to face the two boys, they stared at it for a short while.

'they're not moving' Fred whispered to George, however he wasn't as quiet as he thought because Emma heard him quite clearly.

'It's a photo, they're not supposed to move.' Emma sneered, Fred smirked at the comment, in reality he actually didn't know muggle photos don't move but he found Emma's defensive retaliations funny.

'Oh yeah? Want to see a photo of our family?' Fred mocked

'Sure.' Emma said with a smug smile. Fred felt through his pockets and found an extremely crinkled picture he gave a toothy smile to Emma before handing it over to her. Emma returned the grin before dropping her jaw, the picture was moving!

'They're, _really_ moving!' Emma gawked 'actually properly MOVING!' Emma became fascinated with the photo, staring at it for maybe a little longer than she should have, not really taking in the details of the photo. The photo had been of nine red headed people in front of the Egyptian pyramids, Fred and George along with four other boys, one girl and two adults.

'Wanna know names?' George asked before the silence lasted too long.

'Sure.' Emma said trying to stop herself from blushing after realising how long she had been staring

'That's me and Fred of course. Mum, Dad, Ron, Ginny, and Bill. Those two are Percy and Charlie, they're still in Hogwarts so you might meet them'

'Wow, that's, a lot of family.' Emma said still trying to comprehend the moving photo.

'Sure is!' Fred smiled

'um, I'm… sorry I freaked out earlier. I'm just really nervous' Emma sighed, she felt shame deep in her stomach, she felt the need to apologise but it felt weird doing so.

'No problem' 'don't worry about it' the boys said in unison, it was very clear that they couldn't have cared less and she hadn't offended them.

'Honestly there's no reason to be nervous.' George assured her

'Unless you get sorted into Slytherin!' Fred blurted out

'What's Slytherin?' Emma asked, pale faced

'There are four houses you can get sorted into at Hogwarts' George explained

'Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin.' Fred added

'Slytherin is supposed to turn out a lot of evil wizards' George said, very nonchalantly trying not to scare Emma.

'You have nothing to worry about.' Fred smiled 'Probably' his faced dropped when he said this but only for a moment before he burst into laughter yet again with George joining him.

So, these are wizards Emma thought as the train began to slow down. She smiled wide, she couldn't wait to get started.


	3. Chapter 3

The journey from the train to the school had been quite short, or maybe it just felt short because Emma was so swept up in it all. Luckily the boys had stayed with her to let her know what was normal, apparently, everything is relatively normal to a wizard. George had said his dad would love to meet her after she asked where the ores were for the small wooden boats that somehow rowed themselves over the lake to Hogwarts. She was slowly learning how to internalise her amazement and fear when unexpected magical things would happen, she didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb among her new peers.

The school seemed more like a castle, it was huge with stone walls and large wooden doors, all the new kids were left in the entrance before a tall slender woman walked in sporting a long green velvet robe and a large pointed hat.

'wait those hats are real?' Emma asked George in a panicked whisper

'yeah, it should have been on your list of things to buy' he responded trying to keep his eye on the tall woman.

'I thought it was a joke' Emma sighed before turning her attention to the woman up front. She spoke for a short while about a sorting ceremony, she reiterated the houses that Fred and George had told her about and said they would be like family. That made sense Emma had something similar in her primary school, with a points system just like theirs, she still didn't know what would happen during the sorting, all she could do was sit and hope she could do it correctly.

When the woman re-appeared to take them to the main hall Emma's stomach sank, she didn't feel ready to go to a magic school, maybe they made a mistake, what if she isn't magic?

The 'first years' as she heard a tall bearded man call them at the train platform, marched past long rows of tables, the whole school was in this giant hall. Emma kept her eyes down as they walked forward trying her very best not to be sick everywhere. The headmaster, an old man with a ridiculously long white beard welcomed everyone back said a few words that Emma was too busy not being sick to hear then introduced the sorting ceremony.

A crinkled leather hat was placed on a stool and the first years watched in anticipation as it came to life and started singing a song about the different houses. Emma was in too much shock to take it all in, but she managed to retain the important stuff such as: Gryffindor are traditionally Brave, Hufflepuff are traditionally Loyal, Ravenclaw are traditionally Intelligent and Slytherin are traditionally Ambitious. Emma thought about it and she couldn't say with certainty that she was any of those things.

All she could do was wait, and it didn't take long, the list was in alphabetical order per last names, Blackwell, just after Adam Browning who was sorted into Ravenclaw and just before Chelsey Bear who was sorted into Hufflepuff. When Emma's name was called, she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her, it was intimidating having a room of a few hundred kids staring at you, she quickly made her way up the stool just wanting to get it over with as soon as possible.

She looked down as the hat was put on her head, it was quite big but her hair propped it up out of her eyes. It went silent for a moment, it couldn't have been more than thirty seconds but it felt like thirty minutes, people were still staring and she could see Fred and George in the crowd looking at her. She felt so nervous but she sat up straight and thought about her letter, they couldn't have made a mistake, she was supposed to be there. If she wasn't someone would have known by now and taken her away. She challenged the sorting hat in her mind 'come on, what have you got for me?' she asked in her head, even then she could tell it wasn't as intimidating as she would have liked and more of a polite question. The hat made a low grumbling sound as if trying to confirm its final decision before-

'GRYFINDOR' the hat all but screamed, finally Emma could breathe again. She waited for the hat to be removed before running to the table designated to her house, she got a pat on the back from a sympathetic person who could clearly tell she had been nervous but she hadn't seen who it was. Emma could enjoy the rest of the sorting experience with the knowledge that she wasn't alone, she took team mentality very seriously and hoped everyone else did too.

The hat seemed to be making good progress through the students without many sticking out until the name 'Lowell, Lucas.' Was called out, a young boy with long brown hair strutted up to the stool, his hair fell just above his shoulder, it looked very clean and had a wavy look to it. His robes, like his hair were very clean and he walked up to the stool like he'd done it a thousand times before. Emma couldn't help but stare straight at his face, it took mere seconds before the hat announced his house.

'SLYTHERIN' the boy sauntered over to his houses table and shot a look at Emma, he apparently noticed her staring and didn't seem best pleased. Only then did it occur to Emma to stop looking at him, so she concentrated on the rest of the students yet to be sorted.

To her delight, Fred and George both got sorted into Gryffindor, they sat far enough away from Emma so that she could see them but not talk to them because the other kids who had been sorted before them prevented them from sitting closer.

When the banquet suddenly appeared on the table Emma was proud at how well she internalised her feelings, but it did give her a huge scare. There was suddenly a huge amount of food that appeared in front of her, chicken and sausage and bread rolls with butter, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, beef, veggies, sandwiches, all among other amazing tasting food. Emma ate her fill before the headmaster announced that the first years would be taken to their common rooms by the prefects.

Emma re-joined the twins as a girl called Amber led them to their new homes, it wasn't a long journey but it was exacerbated by all the staircases that seemed to move of their own accord. The group arrived at a portrait of a woman who greeted them all with a kind smile, Amber informed the group that the password was 'grata domum' at least for now,

'It can change but we'll let you know' she added before the portrait swung open to reveal a hole which everyone had to climb through to get to the common room. The Common room was a large circular room with big cosy looking armchairs, there was also a large fireplace with a portrait of a lion above it that looked surprising kind considering its status as a killer. Amber pointed to the staircases that would lead to the bedrooms before ascending the steps herself and presumably going to bed.

Emma decided to stay up a little longer to talk to the boys,

'And when George sat down? I was so worried you guys would be split up!' Emma exclaimed

'Worried him and me would be split?' Fred asked with a condescending look

'Us? Be split up?' George said with feigned panic

'Never!' the boys said in unison with two matching smirks, Emma laughed along with the boys a little before asking

'Did you see that Lucas guy?'

'I guess? What about him?' George asked, confused.

'He gave me a weird look, and I didn't think much of it but I might as well ask while I have you here.' Emma said thinking herself into a small frenzy about this mystery boy.

'It's probably nothing. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.' Fred assured her 'Then again, wasn't he sorted into Slytherin?' Fred raised his eyebrows pretending to be concerned before laughing at his comment with his brother.

The trio then said their goodnights and the boys left Emma at the bottom of the spiralling staircases, as Emma tried to sleep that night she couldn't get Lucas off her mind. She hadn't done anything to upset him, had she? She tried not to think about it as she fell deeper and deeper into a peaceful sleep and dreamed of what the next day would bring.

Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying, I can't figure out how to add proper authors notes so this will have to do. This is my first fanfiction so any tips would be appreciated, any questions feel free to DM me. Always appreciate a review, until next time. (update: my friend pointed out to me that i called Emma Beth through the whole chapter, thats because the last two name ideas for Emma were Emma and Beth, very sorry. thanks hollieemma2001 xx)


	4. Chapter 4

The morning of Emma's first day seemed to drag on, maybe because she was so excited to get started. She had woken up early, possibly earlier than she ever had before only to find herself too nervous to get up. She didn't want to wake up any of her room mates, she didn't know any of them, they had all gone to bed after Emma had fallen asleep. She thought that waking them up early by running around the bedroom would definitely count as a bad first impression even though first impressions are often wrong. So instead she spent an hour or so thinking about what the day would hold, learning spells and how to make potions. how to turn into different animals and how to fly! Maybe she would make some new friends, maybe.

When the other girls in her room started to wake up she started to make light conversation with them, if anyone these were the girls she would make friends with. The first girl to wake up had a bush of curly hair, she yawned wide and rubbed her eyes before turning to see Emma, alert and awake in the bed next to her.

'Good morning' she muttered, she talked with a thick Scottish accent 'how long have you been up then?' she asked looking over at a small clock she had placed by the side of her dresser.

'A few hours I think? I don't have a clock.' Emma said excitedly, she spoke very fast but the girl seemed to understand her.

'Hah cool, excited, then are you?' she asked while pulling her large duvet away from her body

'Uh yeah, I probably couldn't make it more obvious If I tried. I wish I could make it less obvious honestly' Emma said while scratching the back of her head, thinking about if all the other 'muggle born' kids were as excited as her. The other girl began sorting through her trunk at the foot of her bed looking for her robes and Emma joined her.

'So, are you. Uh, well.' Emma stumbled over her sentence trying not to let the other girl notice but it was too late.

'You okay there? There's no need to be nervous just ask.' She said with a comforting smile

'Right, of course. Well I was just wondering if your parents are muggles?'

'No, both my parents are wizards but not all of my family are magical. What about you?'

'Neither of my parents are magical actually, mum says she thinks I'm the first one in the family but we can't be certain.' Emma held her breath waiting for any kind of response. After a moment of silence the girl responds with

'If you want advice? Maybe stay away from pure bloods.' The look on her face was enough to make Emma feel sick

'What's a pureblood?' the two girls had been talking relatively quietly their whole conversation because there were still other girls sleeping but that question had by far been the quietest thing said, it was barely audible

'Purebloods are wizards who's magical roots span for generations, back to some of the first wizards. They get pretty iffy about muggle born sometimes'

'Oh, you mean… I'm going to be bullied here?' Emma thought back to her primary school years, she didn't have many friends. Her teacher once commented that she was worried about her lack of friends but Emma's mum had brushed it off like it was nothing. she was so hoping to make lots of friends but how was she supposed to do that now? If people were going to bully her. The other girl must have seen that Emma's mind was spinning as she put her hand on Emma's shoulder and dragged her back into the moment.

'Honestly, it's nothing to worry about, some people won't like it but, those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind, right?'

'right! sure…' Emma said trying to stay positive. At that moment, a chorus of alarm clocks went off, the other three girls all began to get up and start their morning routine barely noticing the two girls already awake and crouched over their trunks.

'Anyway, I'll be your friend so just stick with me and you'll be fine' The girl flashed a huge grin that seemed similar to the grin the twins would give after messing with Emma's head.

'sorry I never asked, what's your name?'

'Oh right of course, I'm Agatha Delacour, you can call me Aggie if you'd like.'

'Nice to meet you Aggie, I'm Emma Blackwell, you can call me… Em? I guess? If you really want to shorten my four-letter name' the two girls shared a little laugh before they got dressed and headed down to breakfast.

The twins were already in the great hall when Emma and Aggie entered, their plates filled with sausages, bacon, hash browns, eggs and other wonderful smelling things. Surprisingly, not many people were in the hall yet. The girls had woken up early of their own accord but there was no reason for the boys to be up and ready at 7:15am.

'How come you guys are up so early?' Emma asked as she took a seat across from them, Aggie next to her.

'Were never late for food' George assured her

'Yeah, and, last night we only had one helping' Fred added

'How many helpings do you normally have?' Emma asked slightly awe struck. The twins looked at each other, scrunching up their noses and raising their eyebrows.

'As many as we can eat I suppose?' Fred guessed. He looked over at Aggie seeming to have only just noticed she was sitting with them.

'This is Agatha, we share a room' Emma said noticing Fred's gaze.

'You can call me Aggie.' She said with a smile and a small wave

'Alright, I'm Fred and this is George' Fred said gesturing to himself and his brother.

'Fred. George. Okay I should remember that' Aggie confirmed

'No _I'm_ George and he-'

'DON'T! Do, that. Thank you very much' Emma interrupted, Aggie just looked confused but didn't question it. During their breakfast the four students mainly talked about their lessons for the day, Emma was by far the most excited to get started. Aggie was interested to see what classes would be like and the twins seemed slightly underwhelmed by most of it all.

'But magic is just a normal part of our lives' George argued 'So to us this is basically like going to a regular school'

'But it's a MAGIC school! Even if your used to magic that's got to count for something!' Emma pointed out but It was clear her point made no impact because the other three shrugged It off.

After breakfast was done the four kids all headed to their first lesson, luckily, they were in the same class for most things because they shared a house. Just reading the subject names was enough to make Emma squeal!

'Charms, Potions, History of magic, I'm not a huge fan of history but if its MAGIC!? Come on! Astronomy, Herbology, defence against the dark arts, FLYING! _TRANSFIGURATION!_ I love this school already!' Emma said trying not to yell but finding it very hard. The lesson schedule of her fist day was, Herbology, Potions, then a twenty-minute break, double history of magic, a forty-five-minute lunch break then Charms at the end of the day. Lessons flew by, they were so engaging and Emma could barely stand waiting twenty minutes to go from second to third lesson. The only thing about her first scheduled day was they didn't _really_ include using that much magic. Herbology was mostly taking notes with some practical work but not using a wand, Potions was magic but again didn't require a wand, History of magic didn't require a want just a lot of text books and note taking. Another problem was she shared al her lessons with the boy who gave her a dirty look and they hadn't talked at all, she thought maybe he was a pure blood and didn't want to talk to her but then again, he had no way of knowing she had muggle parents. Last lesson however, was Charms, and Emma was certain she would have to use her wand in charms. Upon entering the room Emma saw that there was a feather at each student's desk. The teacher was professor Flitwick, a very short man with white hair, he decided it would be a good idea to pair everyone up so that no one was working with someone from their house. As each remotely friendly looking Slytherin started to be paired off Emma's stomach began to tighten, the boy who had given her a dirty look, Lucas Lowell was close to being the only person left for her to pair with. Her fear wavered slightly when Professor Flitwick called her to sit down while there were still three Slytherin's waiting to be paired.

'And we shall pair you with' Professor Flitwick scanned the crowd 'Mr Lowell, if you would?'

Oh god! She didn't want to look at him! why him? He walked silently over and took the seat next to Emma, he didn't look at her until Professor Flitwick had explained what they needed to do. A levitation charm ' _Wingardium leviosa'_ Emma was right in thinking she would have to use her wand but she was more focused on trying not to be crushed by the anxiety that sitting next to someone you think might hate you brings. Lucas gave her a sideways glance before pulling out his wand, it was far bigger than hers. With a wave of his wand and a chant of the spell the feather began to quiver, on his second attempt the feather slowly rose to eye level and then began to float above their heads, getting higher and higher. The class looked on in awe, the professor clapped happily and told the class to all look at Lucas, after everyone had observed Lucas gently brought the feather back down to the desk and rather bluntly said

'You go.' Emma swallowed a breath and raised her wand, ' _Wingardium leviosa'_ she said with a swish of her wand, nothing happened. Emma could feel the beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead, she cleared her throat and tried again ' _Wingardium leviosa'_ still nothing. Lucas scoffed at what was a feeble attempt from Emma, she tried another three time but got the same result each time, nothing. Emma felt like collapsing into a corner and never showing her face again, it was so embarrassing she was sure her cheeks had gone bright red. For the rest of the lesson she tried to copy Lucas who had been told to keep going by Professor Flitwick. After class had finished and people went their separate ways Emma decided to stay in class.

'More work?!' Fred sounded like he was ready to pass out

'Yeah come on Em lets go relax in the common room' Aggie encouraged trying not to sound condescending.

'I just want to try and get this down.' Emma sighed

'It's been a long day for all of us let's just go relax' George said trying to sway Emma

'Thanks, but no. I'll see you for tea, if not earlier.' Emma said, effectively ending the conversation

Professor Flitwick didn't seem to mind that Emma stayed behind, she worked on the spell while he sat at his desk writing. Emma stayed at her desk practicing for ages, trying and trying with no result.

'Right, come one. this one's the one, I can feel it.' Emma muttered to herself while shaking her arms and shoulders, loosening them. She took a deep breath and uttered the spell,

' _Wingardium leviosa'_ the feather shook, Emma almost lost her mind.

'Right, right. focus now, don't lose it' she took another deep breath ' _Wingardium leviosa'_ the feather ever so slightly rose from the table, Emma couldn't stop herself,

'Ah! Sir! Professor! Look! I'm doing it!'

'Oh, well done Miss Blackwell. See practice makes perfect' he had a huge smile on his face that made his pale cheeks turn a shade of pink with pride. Emma dropped the Feather and then slouched back in her chair releasing a huge sigh as she did, she had done it, finally. She'll show that Lucas guy! Satisfied with her work Emma headed out of the classroom and off to find her friends. As she walked she felt the presence of someone behind her but she didn't want to turn around and find out who.

They probably don't mean me any harm. Is probably good enough? Emma picked up the pace before being grabbed by her shoulder and pulled back.

 _Oh shit._

Hey! This is a pretty long chapter but I didn't want to make it two seperate ones so just enjoy the longer chapter. I tend to prefer short chapters but maybe that's just me? As before, please don't hesitate to DM me about anything, though I might take a little while to respond. A review is always appreciated! Until next time x


	5. Chapter 5

Emma was slammed against the corridor wall, _oof_ , the sudden hit stung her back.

'Lucas?' Emma gasped breathlessly

'What is your deal?' Lucas hissed, he didn't sound very angry but the situation and his hushed tone made him more intimidating that Emma would have liked.

'Get off me!' Emma growled while trying to shake Lucas' grasp

'Why are you here?' Lucas asked while staring Emma down

'Because I can use magic!' Emma screamed, using Lucas' moment of shock to throw him off her and onto the cold stone ground 'just as well if not **better** that you can' Emma brushed her uniform down as though Lucas' touch had dirtied it, before strutting away leaving Lucas stunned on the floor.

She strutted herself all the way to the Gryffindor common room where the twins were sitting on a sofa casting spells on paper aeroplanes.

'What are you doing?' Emma asked

'Oh hey, were going to make these paper aeroplanes fly into the fire wanna help?' George responded, only briefly looking up from his paper plane.

'No, I'm good thanks. Where's Aggie?'

'Up in her room I guess?' Fred said while failing to make the paper plane land in the fire.

'Okay,' Emma almost walked away but felt the need to try something 'you know you can just throw those into the fire? You don't need to enchant them or anything.'

'Yeah but it's easier to enchant them' Fred said sounding quite bored

After a beat, Emma picked up one of the paper planes and threw it into the fire. To everyone's surprise including her own it landed, the twins looked, jaws dropped at the fire then at Emma. Emma's eyes went wide before she couldn't hold it any longer and let out a wheezy laugh, slapped her leg and walked out of the room and to the bedroom with a skip in her step.

When Emma arrived upstairs she found Aggie sitting on her bed reading a book.

'Hey, what'cha reading?' Emma asked with maintaining her high self-confidence from the common room

'A book about muggles' Aggie responded without looking up

'If you ever have any questions about the authentic muggle experience you're welcome to ask me' Emma said half-jokingly

'Actually, I do have one question'

'Go for it!' Emma was exited to hear what sort of questions a witch would have for her, it must be something big to warrant a question from a wizard born, magic user like Aggie.

'How do you send letters?' Aggie asked, completely seriously.

'Sorry, what?' Emma asked, befuddled. posting letters? How boring! Emma thought

'you don't use owls, right? So how do you post stuff, like how does it work'

'Well you write a letter, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it then put it in a letter box' Emma listed off the steps with confusion and disappointment, she thought Aggie would have a _good_ question. What she would consider a good question she wasn't sure but it certainly wasn't one about posting letters.

'Okay, what then?' Aggie pried

'What do you mean?'

'After you put it in the post box what happens?'

'I don't know? Do you know what happens for the whole of your postal service?!' Emma said trying to defend herself

'Yeah, you do all that stuff but give it to an owl not a post box. Then the owl takes it to the person you've addressed it to.'

'Okay that was an easy one forget I said anything, but if we used owls they would clutter the sky. People send lots of letters.'

Aggie looked thoughtful for a moment, raising her eyebrows and pouting her lips slightly.

'I guess that's fair enough'

The girls sat in silence for a short while before Emma broke the silence

'Remember Lucas?'

'Lowell? How could I forget.' Aggie joked

'He basically ambushed me in the hall today' Emma didn't mean to but she sounded distant, as though it was the first time she had taken in what had happened. She had thought on it briefly as she walked to the common room but now she was admitting it, saying it out loud and really thinking it through. She played it off as innocent but he threw her against a wall, and it had really hurt. If she hadn't gotten away when she did who knows what could have happened.

'You should tell someone' Aggie said, sounding urgent

'Yeah, maybe.' Emma said still sounding more distant that she cared to be.

'No maybes, that creep went for you, you should say something' Aggie had a stern motherly tone to her voice reminiscent of Emma's own mum.

'Okay I'll tell someone' Emma said defensively

'Professor McGonagall would be best, she's the head of Gryffindor' Aggie sounded as though she was already planning exactly what Emma should say when she had barely heard what happened. Although Emma had promised she knew she wasn't going to tell on Lucas, there was something about him that made Emma's stomach stir.

After a relatively quiet tea in the grand hall, where Fred had tried to turn his water into alcohol 'just for a little taste' key word being _tried._ Emma decided to write her parents a letter, hopefully Rufus could get it to them.

' _Dear mum and dad,_

 _I thought I'd just drop you a letter to let you know I'm doing well. I've made a few friends so you don't need to worry about me being lonely out here, and I'm trying really hard in all my classes. Odd question but do you know anyone with the last name Lowell? No reason just curios but if you do let me know. You can write a letter and give it to Rufus, he'll bring it back for me. Hope everything is good at home, miss and love you both._

 _Lots of love, Emma xxx'_

Emma ran the letter up to the tower where Rufus slept and sent him on his way, her first letter sent by owl. She felt a strange sense of achievement as she watched Rufus soar out into the night. As for the rest of the night Emma spent it curled up with a book about potions, she was determined not to fall behind, even be a high achiever if possible. She knew it would be hard work but she felt as though it would be worth it, she ended up falling asleep with her book open on her chest, that night she dreamed about punching Lucas in the stomach a few times over. It was a good night.

Hey! Not much happened in this chapter but it was a bit of a rush to get it done in time, I try to post every Monday. I'm starting to get more of a feel for the characters so hopefully the story will pick up soon, be sure not to miss the next chapter! As always DM me any time about anything and a review is always appreciated, until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

About a week after Emma had sent her letter to her parents she received a response, at breakfast a swarm of owls invaded the air and dropped letters and packages to their owners. Emma had almost forgotten she sent a letter, it had been a long week and Emma had been focusing very hard on her studies. The letter had dropped onto her plate just as she had reached for a slice of toast.

'A letter from home?' Aggie asked politely

'Oh yeah, I wrote home a little while ago. Have you gotten anything?' Emma said returning her slice of toast to its original plate.

'Not yet, my parents set me up with a lot of sweets before I left home so they probably just assume I'm good until I write to them, and I haven't really had the time'

Emma gave a small smile before ripping open the envelope, her mums large neat lettering was immediately obvious, it was nice to have a piece of home even if just something as small as her mums handwriting.

' _Dear Emma,_

 _Hello darling, your dad and I are so happy to hear that you're settling in okay. Glad to hear your making friends, we'd love to meet them at some point in the holidays. You said you are working hard but of course we expected nothing less from our beautiful daughter, please write again soon, I'd love to hear more about the school. We miss and love you._

 _Lots of love, mum and dad xx'_

Emma lowered the letter to her lap, slightly disappointed by her parent's letter.

'Are you okay there?' George rang in, only just sitting down for breakfast along with Fred

'I could have sworn I asked if they knew anyone with the last name Lowell but they didn't answer me' Emma explained feeling genuinely disappointed.

'Maybe you thought you asked but actually you forgot? Aggie suggested

'No, I'm… certain I asked. Wait, did I? I'll send another and you all need to check I actually ask so I can stop feeling crazy' Emma said with a joking tone but she did feel crazy, she was almost certain she asked, and her parents wouldn't just ignore her, but whenever she questioned herself she became less and less certain.

'first flying lesson today!' Aggie blurted out obviously trying to distract Emma from getting lost in her own thoughts. 'Are you exited Emma?'

Emma gave her the once over before answering with a cautious tone 'yeah… I guess. I uh, yeah actually I've been looking forward to it since I saw it on the timetable!' her thoughts melting away Emma began rambling about how she thought flying would work. Her ramblings, in between mouthfuls of toast and sausages managed to take up most of the rest of breakfast time.

As the four were leaving the great hall they were stopped by Lucas.

'can we help you?' Aggie asked in a very aggressive tone. Lucas paused and looked at her with a very bored expression.

'Well _you_ can't, but I'd like to talk to Emma' he said, maintaining his bored tone

'Yeah, I'd like to have a pet dragon but it isn't gonna happen' George jeered

Rather than making a rude comment like everyone thought he would Lucas bit his tongue, literally.

'Don't bite your tongue off! Fine! you can talk to me, okay?' Emma said, mainly because she was curious as to what he had to say. Lucas' gaze washed over Emma's friends and her gaze followed his.

'Guys, I won't be long, I'll see you in class.' Emma said, encouraging them to move along but saying it with a look that begged them to stay close enough to help her if things go pear shaped. Aggie looked almost offended, as did George but luckily for Emma Fred dragged them off clearly considering her silent plea for closeness as he dragged them so they back tracked and didn't move forward. Meaning that Lucas couldn't see them but they could see him quite clearly, staying out of earshot so Lucas wouldn't get suspicious.

When they were gone, Lucas turned to Emma and gave her a small smile, very out of character for him. He looked to the ground and pushed his long brown locks behind his ear, seeming troubled.

'So, what was so important that my friends couldn't hear?' Emma asked

'I wanted to apologise for my actions last week, and how I've treated you in general.' He seemed genuine, so Emma was open to hearing what he had to say.

'Can I ask why you did that?' Emma wasn't trying to upset or pry but she really wanted to know.

'I… my whole family doesn't like mud bloods but I… I got a letter from my dad that changed my opinion.'

'What did your dad say?' Emma blurted out, she couldn't help it, nothing this mysterious had ever happened to her in her whole life. Lucas looked very uncomfortable, staring dead at Emma.

'I, don't think I should say. But perhaps we can be friends?'

'Was that a suggestion from your dad?' Emma asked with a small laugh, Lucas shared the small laugh with her. It was odd seeing him let his guard down, even if just to share a laugh.

'If you really want then… then of course we can be friends. Do you want to walk to the next lesson with me?' Emma asked shyly.

'Yeah, I'd like that.' Lucas said looking sheepishly at the floor.

'Mind if my friends join?'

'Did they ever leave?' Lucas asked glancing at the trio behind him.

Emma could feel herself going red 'I… I thought you wouldn't notice' Emma sighed.

'I'm not stupid Amelia.'

'I uh, don't call me that.' Emma said rather flustered. She could see Lucas smiling from ear to ear, he clearly meant nothing by it.

'Wait how did you know that was my name?'

Lucas' face dropped 'Uh, HEY GUYS!' he called out to the people following and they sped up their pace to catch up.

'Yeah? What's wrong?' Asked Aggie

'Are you okay?' George asked putting his hand gently on her shoulder.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Emma brain was rattling around in her head, that was a weird and annoying way to avoid her question. 'Lucas is going to walk to flying with us.'

The trio thought about it for a moment before cautiously accepting his being there. Lucas offered his hand and a warm smile to all three one at a time, first Fred, then George ending with Aggie.

There was mostly an awkward silence as they walked to class occasionally interrupted by Emma trying to start a conversation.

By the time they were at class and the professor had arrived they had endured about as much awkward silence as they could take. They were taught how to make their broom fly into their hands, then how to mount their broom and then how to hover just above ground. Emma didn't find flying as easy as she thought she would, she would often wobble on the broom despite all the pointers and tips she was given by her professor, and her friends who all seemed to find it easier than her.

After floating shakily a few times her broom stiffened and she stopped wobbling.

'Guys look! I think I'm doing it!' Emma yelled

Everyone turned to look at her and even the professor gave a kind smile, but suddenly her smile dropped. Emma's broom started rising, slowly but surely getting higher and higher.

'Okay that's enough you need to come down!' ordered the professor, but she couldn't. it felt like she had no control over her broom at all

'I'm not doing this!' Emma yelled, she tried to go down but it felt like an invisible forcefield was keeping her from doing anything but go up.

She scanned the crowd of pupils to see if anyone was causing this to happen.

'THEM RIGHT THERE!' Emma screamed gesturing to the person enchanting her broom

'IT'S-' but she was cut off, just as she spoke the spell stopped and Emma plummeted to the ground.

'Everyone stand back!' cried the professor rushing to Emma's side.

The class had ran and crowded her as soon as she hit the floor, George was holding Emma's torso in his lap trying to keep her somewhat upright. While everyone was muttering comments of shock and disbelief George was calling out to Emma trying to get her to respond.

'Emma! Come on Emma wake up!' His voice was strained and fast paces he clearly didn't know what to do.

'Out of the way Mr. Weasley! Ill deal with it from here.' The Professor gestured for all the students to stand back as she tried to get George to let go of Emma.

'Go get help then you can take her!' George insisted. Although angry because of George disobeying her instruction she realised it was probably best.

'Im going to go find someone to help me get Emma to the nurse, everyone go back to your common rooms, NOW!' the professor announced to the class. As everyone ran off back to their rooms George, Fred and Aggie were left protecting their friend.

Hey! Hope you enjoyed. I'm sorry I missed a week, I'm back in school now so most of my time is taken up but I'll try my best to keep the chapters regular. As always feel free to DM me and a review is always appreciated! Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

George, Fred and Aggie followed close behind as Emma was taken to the medical wing on a stretcher. It hadn't taken long for the pupils to scarper back to their rooms, and the necessary professors to rush to Emma's aid.

When Emma had been settled into a hospital bed madam Pomfrey told the trio to go back to classes but they refused.

As first lesson turned into second Aggie ran off not wanting to miss potions as she was already slightly behind. That left Fred and George sitting at either side of Emma's bed.

They sat in a solemn silence, George reached up and held Emma's hand.

'Please wake up Em.' George whispered

'She'll be okay mate, just you see. She'll be up any minute.' Fred assured although his facial expression was less than certain of the idea.

When third lesson came about Fred decided to leave George with Emma, not making a big deal of him leaving. 'I'll see you at lunch, or after school, either way I'll be back later.' he said with a pleasant smile. George had simply nodded and let Fred go about his business.

When lunch started, the door to the medical wing meekly creaked open and Lucas peered around the door. George hadn't noticed him arrive, so Lucas walked over trying to make his presence known without shocking George.

When he finally looked up he let go of Emma's hand and stood up. At first, he seemed very formal, until Lucas saw his facial expression. He was mad, more than Lucas had ever seen anyone be towards him.

'Are you okay?' Lucas asked

'Don't do that.' George grimaced

'Don't do what?'

'Pretend you care. I don't trust you, Lowell.' George said trying hard not to shout

'I didn't do this!' Lucas insisted

'Guilty until proven innocent' George growled

'I thought it was innocent until proven guilty' Lucas squeaked

'Not. For. You.' George almost whispered. The whisper seemed harsher that a shout would have.

Lucas began to back away. 'I apologised! Why would I apologise and then do this?'

'So, we wouldn't suspect you?' George suggested. 'Get out.' He muttered

'Excuse me?' Lucas had barely heard what George had said

'Get out! Leave Emma alone! Don't come back!' George spat

Lucas, wide eyed, backed out of the door and closed it behind him. For a moment, George couldn't hear his footsteps walking away but then he heard the fast footsteps of a panicked coward running away. George sat back down next to Emma, he gently stroked her head before holding her hand once again.

George didn't even leave Emma's side to get lunch, he simply sat there holding her hand willing her to wake up. Madam Pomfrey said it would be worrying if she didn't wake up by the end of the day so George was going to stay with her until she woke up.

Unfortunately for him, George was no longer awake when Emma woke up. He had fallen asleep on the bed next to her, and about an hour later Emma woke up with a terrible headache.

Before she even sat up Emma could feel a sharp throbbing pain on her temple. Her hand raised straight to her head and started rubbing and trying to soothe the pain. She turned to her left and saw an empty seat alongside a small table with a jug of water and three empty glasses on a silver tray. Emma turned to the bed on her right and saw George lying there. Why was he here? She scrambled out of bed and sat next to his bed, brushing hair out of his face. She didn't hurt him when she fell did she? Of course not! She would remember, but then again… she couldn't remember anything. She could recall being up in the air and then falling suddenly but that's it, she strained trying to think of more details but nothing came.

'I think… I think I saw who did it?' Emma questioned aloud.

'It was… oh come on! Who was it?' but it seemed no matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember who had caused her to fall. She sat staring at George for a little while longer, questioning everything, before getting back into her own bed and pouring herself a glass of water.

A short while later Emma heard the main door go, she quickly pulled the duvet over her and pretended to be sleeping, she wasn't sure if she was allowed to be awake at night even if she was in the medical wing. However, the footsteps seemed light on the stone floor, like someone was trying to sneak around without being caught. Emma remained silent under the duvet until she heard a familiar voice ask her

'Emma, are you awake?'

It was Lucas, he had snuck out of the Slitherin dorms and come to visit her. He wore a very soft looking pair of Baby blue pyjamas.

'What are you doing out of bed?' Emma whispered so sternly that it was barely a whisper

'You sound like a teacher,' Lucas smiled 'I came to see you.'

That was weird, wait, was it? Emma was too flustered by his sudden appearance; she couldn't really tell.

'Thanks?'

'you're welcome.'

There was a short awkward silence that consisted of Lucas and Emma trying very hard to avoid any prolonged eye contact.

'Did you… I mean, do you know who did it? Made me crash that is.' Emma blurted out wanting to talk about something, anything but immediately feeling as though she had picked the wrong subject.

Lucas raised an eyebrow and gave Emma the once over before responding.

'Please, don't make a fool of yourself. I got enough of that earlier from your boyfriend.' Lucas said in a cool dismissive tone

'I don't have a boyfriend.' Emma stated quite bluntly

Lucas glanced over at a sleeping George on the bed just over from them with a pondering look.

'Well then, you have very,' he paused so that he could choose his words carefully 'protective… friends.' He finished.

'Aren't you my friend? That would suggest you're protective to.'

'I didn't say being protective was a bad thing.' Lucas said defensively 'You say that like you don't know if we're friends.' He added calmly. Emma thought for a moment before responding,

'Just curious as to what you think Lucas. Are we friends?' She tried not to be blunt but that comment was nothing if not sly

'I told you. I didn't cause your fall. I'm not the evil one of my family, if anything my sister is. Cunning, sly, a generally foul girl.' Lucas grumbled

'You have a sister?' Emma asked. Lucas gave her a blank stare, he stared right into her eyes, with a face that looked like he had no clue what she was talking about.

'Yes…' he said somewhat cautiously 'I, thought you knew?'

'I'm pretty sure we haven't had a proper conversation before today and not once have you mentioned a sister.' Emma said with a smile

'I suppose.' He said, hardly seeming invested in their conversation. Emma gazed over at George, still asleep in the bed next to her.

'Do you know how long he's been there?' Emma asked, not looking away from George

'Since you came in, I don't think he left all day.'

'Really?' Emma asked with disbelief

'Are you sure he's not your boyfriend? You're looking at him weird.'

'He's _not_ my boyfriend! Stop asking'

'Are you sure? He didn't even leave for lunch today.'

'Really? That's nothing like the George I know!' The two shared a laugh

'Lucas.' Georges groggy morning voice said with spite. Lucas turned to look at George,

'Can I help you? Emma and I we're just chatting' He said, resting his hand on top of Emmas. That made Georges face darken.

'I think you should leave her to rest.' George ordered, rather than requested.

'Very well.' Lucas turned to Emma and gave her a warm smile before patting her hand and being on his way. George watched him the whole time he was leaving, only speaking after hearing his footsteps creep back to his dorm.

'You alright?' George asked still sounding slightly spiteful

'Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay? That was a little weird.'

'You seriously trust that guy?' George asked sounding almost offended

'I… I don't know' She could have sworn she was confident in her trust of Lucas but that final moment, the bitter exchange between her two friends made her question why he was being so nice. Why did he apologise the day she was hurt? Why was he so weird towards George? Why was he so weird about his sister? Could he have done it?

Emma and George went back to sleep, and although the friendship group was separated they all had the same thought that night. Who did it?

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed, again sorry for not posting much, school is kicking my butt! This chapter is dedicated to Hollieemma who kept trying to get me to say who made Emma crash, here's your chapter! Sorry I don't tell you who did it but stay tuned and you'll find out eventually. As always a review is greatly appreciated, until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

After 'the incident' as Fred now referred to it as -on the rare occasion he would bring it up-, Emma was more motivated than ever. She couldn't be sure if the person who caused the crash did it because she wasn't pure blood or perhaps because she was an easy target. She tried to ignore the possibility that someone had it out for her as best she could, especially since the only foul play since 'the incident' had been the moving staircases catching her out a few times causing her to be late for lesson.

She studied hard and worked with practical magic far harder. A professor or two had given her extra house points for working so hard, she earned twenty in one day once! Although Fred and Georges constant pranks seemed to cancel it out most of the time.

Just a few days after the incident they had used magical moving paint to draw things on the paintings littering the halls off Hogwarts. Most of them were horrified, one stern looking man had a smiling sun painted in the corner of his frame who would chuckle and fly about with glee although he seemed to be slightly fond of it and even gave the boys a nod and a small smile one time when they passed him.

Lucas had kept close in the days after, although sometimes it seemed he was just there to annoy George. He had come a long way from Emma's first meeting with him, he never mentioned how she wasn't pureblood, and seemed to have forgotten it all together.

After 'the incident' Emma decided to write another letter home, she didn't know if the school had told her parents what happened but she wanted to straighten everything out.

 _Dear Mum and Dad,_

 _I don't know if the school has told you but I had a little accident in flying class, I'm fine but I thought I'd let you know. I think I asked you in my first letter but I can't be sure, do you know anyone of the last name Lowell? Totally fine if you don't but please let me know either way. Like last time I'm trying super hard, I've made more friends and I'm really enjoying myself. I hope to hear back from you soon, love and miss you_

 _Emma x_

She showed the letter to Fred, George and Aggie. So, she had other people who could see she asked about Lucas' family, although at the moment it didn't matter, he had been friendly more than not. The three friends confirmed with smirks that she had in fact asked about Lucas and if her parents didn't respond this time they were possibly avoiding the question.

Emma admitted to her friends one morning that she was scared to get back on a broom, what had happened, it was scary. She didn't like to think too hard about it but she was lucky to be okay, she could have really hurt herself. Upon admitting this George perked up and offered to help ease her back into flying. So, they arranged to meet that day after school and begin practicing.

Emma walked out onto the quidditch field to find George already there with a broom in either hand, she waved happily and he smiled back.

'You ready to get started?' George asked

'Not really…' Emma mumbled 'But, that's okay'

'Wanna ride with me first?' George asked

'Excuse me?'

'I'll ride on the front, control the broom and you can sit behind me and just get used to the feeling'

'Oh okay, sure. Let's give it a go.'

George mounted the broom and gently patted the back with a cheeky smile. Emma shook her head with a sigh and a chuckle then went and sat behind him.

'Ready?' George asked glancing back at Emma

'Sure, let's go.' Emma responded taking a deep breath and tightening her grip on the broom

George kicked off the ground quite harshly and made the broom shudder, Emma made a high-pitched squeal at the sudden harsh movement.

'You okay Emma? That was just the start, if you can't handle that maybe we should stop.' He teased

'NO! no! I'm fine' Emma said, trying to convince herself as well as George

He could clearly hear the uncertainty in Emma's voice so they stayed at the same height for a while, flying around the perimeter of the pitch until George thought Emma could handle more height. As the broom rose Emma started panting, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth in an attempt to stop herself hyperventilating.

'You wanna stop?' George asked

'No, I can do it… I just.' Emma wrapped her arms around George 'That's better'

'Yeah… it is' George whispered so Emma couldn't hear

George was glad Emma couldn't see him as his cheeks had gone a light pink, he felt Emma's arms tighten around him as they began flying about the pitch. There hadn't been much of a breeze lower down but now, they could feel the cool evening air nipping at their faces as they glided around. It wasn't too cold but you wouldn't have been able to tell with the way Emma held onto George. They continued to fly about for some time, only stopping when they noticed Fred walk onto the pitch.

They floated down gently and landed just a few feet away from Fred.

'You alright mate?' George asked

'Hi Fred!' Emma called from behind George

Fred gave them a menacing grin 'How's flying?'

'It's going great actually.' George said

'Good to hear, but tea is ready if you wanna come inside?'

'Sounds good.' Emma said, getting off the broom.

Fred gave a grin and a nod to the two before turning and heading back inside, leaving them yet again alone on the pitch.

'Was that alright?' Fred asked getting closer to Emma

'Yeah, thank you. Maybe we could do this again some time?'

For the first time Emma could recall George seemed lost for words, or more, couldn't think of a cheeky comeback. He managed to stutter out – 'Y-y-yeah, whenever you want.'

They headed to the hall standing… closer than they normally did. Occasionally swaying as they walked and bumping into each other, but when that happened they'd just smile and laugh. George tried to explain quidditch to Emma as they walked but she found it hard to keep up, though she didn't want to stop him because he was being so enthusiastic about it. He told her that he wanted to join the school team as soon as they would have him, same goes for Fred. It was nice hearing him talk about something he loves, it was the same for everyone really, when they talk about something they love they will get all exited and talk faster maybe use their arms more as they're talking. He kept talking and talking about quidditch until they got to the main door of the hall, after Fred waved them to some spare seats they sat and ate.

'Where's Aggie?' Asked Emma pensively

'I haven't seen her.' Said Fred as he buttered a bread roll

Emma looked around the hall trying to find her in the crowds of people without looking too suspicious. Just then she saw Aggie walk into the hall side by side with Lucas, it looked like they were talking but it seemed very formal. They weren't smiling of laughing, just talking, monotone and stoic. When Aggie saw Emma she smiled and waved, saying her farewells to Lucas and trotting over.

'What was that?' Emma asked cautiously

'What was what?' Aggie stated rather than questioned as she sat down beside Fred

'You were talking to Lucas all shady like' George explained

Aggie sighed as though she really hadn't wanted them to ask about her conversation with Lucas 'Well, I hate to be soppy but… I've been keeping a close eye on him recently. I don't think any of you can deny suspecting him for causing Emma's 'incident' I certainly can't. So, I've been particularly harsh on him, grilling him whenever I have gotten the chance and what you just witnessed was me agreeing to let him help me look for whoever caused the 'incident'. He's still not one hundred percent in the clear but at least now I can keep an even closer eye on him.'

There was a moment of silence between the four, that's what she had been talking about?

'You, you can just let it go.' Said Emma 'I don't want this being a huge thing'

'Em, someone hurt you and got away with it. I'm not okay with that, I'm going to look for them, you can even help if you want.' Aggie said with a caring smile

'I mean… if you can find something for me to do, I'll gladly do it, but I don't want to get in your way.' Emma said almost but not quite lost for words.

'Then I'll let you know if I need you.' Aggie smiled, reaching for a bread roll.

The four ate together happily that night, not worrying about who could have done it, or why. Not thinking about the fact, whoever did it, was in that hall. Because the questions could wait, the answers could wait, in that moment they felt as though everything and everyone could wait, for them.

Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed, George and Emma are getting closer! Are you feeling for or against that? I'd also love to hear who you think did it! Reviews are always appreciated and thank you very much for reading, until next time!


	9. Chapter 9

A few more weeks had passed and Christmas was fast approaching, Aggie had spent lots of her spare time with Lucas trying to find who caused Emma to crash. After every meet up Aggie would tell Emma who they had looked into or discussed; on one occasion they confronted a student who Hadn't even been in the class, but Aggie hadn't realised until the pupil almost burst into tears insisting that they hadn't even heard of Emma Blackwell before.

Apart from the unlikely duo of Lucas Lowell and Agatha Delacour beginning to work together, George and Emma had been getting closer and closer over the weeks. Once a week they would go out to the quidditch pitch and practice flying, it started with Emma siting on a broom behind George, him in control, making sure she's okay. Then she sat in front, with George behind so he could take over if she panicked, but he mainly just sat with his head on her shoulder, sometimes giving her tips which she insisted she didn't need but followed anyway. As Emma became more confident the two would ride on separate brooms, they kept close at all times but it made Emma feel more independent. Emma was in the final stages of being confident enough to fly alone, 'lessons' ended up being George chasing Emma around on their brooms, shouting warnings when she flew too high.

Tonight, was another evening out on the pitch, they had to go out earlier and earlier as winter meant it was getting darker far faster. Four o'clock and the sky would be black, littered with sparkling stars that illuminated the castle in a heart-warming light. Emma would often admire and point out the lack of manmade light, it meant the sky was easier to see and arguably more breath taking.

That night, instead of their usual fast paced races, the two just floated calmly around the pitch. At one-point George tried to lean back on his broom and almost fell straight off. They started talking about a whole range of things but it seemed to always come back to family.

'Remind me how many siblings you have?' asked Emma

'Six. There's Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron, Ginny and of course Fred.'

'And you.' Emma said looking over at George

'Yeah,' George smiled 'and me. What about you? Any siblings?'

'Oh, no, I'd love a big brother, but I'm an only child.'

'I'm kinda glad you don't have a big brother.' George said with a small smirk

'and why's that?' Emma asked

'Aren't big brothers supposed to chase boys away? Stop you getting in relationships and stuff?'

'I manage to do that on my own, guess I don't need a brother!' Emma laughed 'Does Fred do that for you? Chase away girls so you can spend all your time together?'

'He might if the girl wasn't for me, but not really. We spend all out time together anyway, so if I spend my evenings with a girl I like, what's it to him y'know?'

' _wait. Is he flirting with me!?'_ Emma thought. ' _how long had he been doing that! How could I only now have noticed! God! Right, flirty, flirty think of something flirty!'_

'Mae'r awyr yn hardd, yn union fel chi' Emma verbally vomited, not sure what else to say.

'Excuse me?' George looked mortified, as though Emma had just told him some huge truth bomb.

'Its Welsh.' Emma explained quickly, regretting her use of a foreign language

'Oh. Okay, what did you say?' George asked, still getting over the shock of suddenly being affronted with a different language.

'Mae'r awyr yn hardd, yn union fel chi' Emma said slowly

'Yeah, Yeah. What did you say in English?' George asked

'I didn't say anything in English.' Emma said with a huge grin

'You know what I mean! What's the translation for what you said?' George said in a raised voice, getting more and more curious

'That's for me to know and you to probably never find out' Emma said with a cheeky smile

After that they both flew down and headed in, the whole time George was pestering Emma about what she had said but she didn't budge. She managed to stand her ground for the whole walk back to their rooms, as they said good bye with a hug, George asked one final time in the hopes she would break, but she didn't. instead he went to his bedroom still questioning what she had said and she went to hers finally being the one who actually had a clue what was going on.

When she got up to her room no one else was there, at first Emma was surprised but then she reminded herself that it wasn't actually that late, it was just dark. She sat on her bed and started reading through her transfiguration notes, it was by far one of her favourite classes. She had gotten half way through her first page of work when Rufus came pecking at her window with a letter in his beak.

Emma pulled open the window, the cold air causing her arm hairs to perk up. She gently stroked Rufus with her finger, muttering complements to him about how beautiful he is and how good he is at delivering letters. She tore open the letter quite sloppily and began to read it in her head while still stroking Rufus.

 _Dear Emma_

 _Glad to hear you're doing well and enjoying classes. About the 'Lowell' thing, I didn't address it because I had no idea what you were talking about. My advice is to stay away from him, it's probably in your best interest. The school did let us know you had an accident but they said it was nothing they couldn't handle so I hope you're okay. I look forward to hearing from you again soon._

 _Lots of love, mum and dad xx_

Emma couldn't help but read one bit over and over. "Stay away from him" what felt wrong about those four words? "Stay away from him" it kept ringing in her head. "Stay away from him" the words echoed in her head as she went to bed that night. "Stay away from him" why couldn't she let this go? "Stay away from…him" she'd never said anything about Lucas.

Hey! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always, I'd really appreciate a review. If you have any burning questions your more than welcome to DM me. Google translate doesn't translate the welsh sentence correctly! Believe me I checked, but it's pretty close, It says air instead of sky 😊 Until next time!


	10. Chapter 10

Emma decided to heed her parents warning and for a couple weeks, stayed away from Lucas. Although she hated the uncertainty her mums letter had brought her she couldn't think of any way to respond. George had sat and watched through the evenings as Emma tried to write a decent response to her mother without giving away how horrified she was that she had somehow known the gender.

'isn't it just what you say when you don't know someone's name?' George would ask

'No, not in this context. I never mentioned that it was someone I knew It was just if she knew the name, it could have been for homework or something like that.' Emma would explain in a hurried voice, trying to reassure not only George but herself that her thoughts were entirely rational.

Two weeks after her mother's letter George strolled into the mostly empty common room and threw himself onto the sofa facing the lit fireplace. Emma was sitting on one end of the sofa with her eyes closed when Georges landing startled her back into reality.

'Any ideas for the letter today? Attempt ten, right?' George asked propping himself up using his elbows.

'No,' Emma responded rubbing her eyes 'No letter tonight.'

'What? But we always try to write a letter on a weekday! We're close I can feel it.' George said trying to keep Emma's wandering gaze

'Sorry but I'm not feeling up for it tonight.' Emma said throwing herself from the overstuffed sofa cushion she had been sitting on.

'Okay, what do you want to do instead?' George asked turning over and lying on his back, letting one arm rest on his chest and one arm dangle off the sofa

'I'll probably just go to my room and… study, I guess.' Emma said

'What!' George shouted shooting up to a sitting position and staring at Emma 'But we always spend our evenings together! It's practically a tradition.' George said without a hint of sarcasm

'I'm sorry, we can hang out later but I'm going to do actual homework rather than trying to write that damn response letter.' Emma said rushing to the staircase that would take her to her room

'Wait, Emma come on.' George said getting up from his seat

'hold that thought, we can talk later, I promise!' Emma called back to George as she ascended the stairs.

What Emma hadn't told George was just that morning she had received another letter from her mother, it hadn't been delivered by Rufus as he had remained at the school with her, and her parents didn't have a spare carrier pidgin lying around as far as she was aware. She was yet to open the letter, she had woken up with it left on her windowsill, no bird no explanation as to how it got there. Just a letter addressed to her in what was clearly her mother's handwriting.

As she jogged up the stone staircase leading to her room all she could think about was the letter awaiting her and what it would say. The letter was where she had left it, under her pillow, without any hesitation she ripped open the envelope, it read:-

 _Dear Emma_

 _Hey baby, your dad and I got worried when you didn't respond to our last letter. We hope everything is okay, we haven't heard otherwise from the school. If something is wrong please let us know and you can come home, there are people at that school who aren't your speed. Maybe it would be good for you to come home for a week or two and not have to wait until Christmas? If we don't hear from you in a day or two we'll contact the school about bringing you home early._

 _Lots of love, mum and dad xx_

'No, no, no!' Emma kept muttering as she ran throughout her room grabbing paper, ink, a quill, an envelope and wax to close. Once she had everything she needed Emma simply scribbled 'Im fine don't pull me out of school lots of love Emma' on the piece of paper before messily shoving it into the envelope and sealing it. As she was moving so fast some of the wax trickled onto her hand, she quickly pulled it away, waving it frantically to cool it down before running out of the door to head to the owlery.

As she ran into the common room she caught the attention of George and Fred who were sitting together on the sofas.

'What's the rush?' Fred asked

'Have to send a letter!' Emma replied without even looking at him. Before anything else could be said she left the common room. As she rushed down the stairs she passed Aggie, who looked questioningly at Emma.

'You alright there?' she asked with a small smile

'Follow me.' Emma said without stopping her decent. Aggie simply followed, she didn't need to be told twice. All that she knew was her friend was in a panicked serious state and that's all that mattered to her.

'What do I need to know?' Aggie said catching up to Emma as they rushed through the mostly empty halls.

'Parents, trying to pull me out of school. Send letter, Before too late.' Emma said through huffed breaths.

'Let's do this.' Aggie said as they got closer and closer to their destination.

They were making good time when suddenly they heard a crying coming from a storage room.

'Em, stop!' Aggie shouted upon hearing the sound 'someone's crying' Aggie pointed to the storage room the sound was coming from 'Do we have time to try help?' she asked looking very serious.

'Augh! Barely!? But come on, if you can make it like thirty seconds long then it's okay.' Emma responded while continuing to jog on the spot slightly.

Aggie knocked gently on the door and called out 'you okay in there?'

The crying stopped but the person was still sniffling

'I'm fine' called out a broken lying voice. It sounded almost familiar, but the crying distorted it, so Emma couldn't tell who it was.

Aggie opened the door and inside, huddled up on the floor was Lucas. He was still wiping his tears but as soon as he saw Emma new tears stated emerging, sticking his long brown hair to his face where strands had caught a drop.

'Lucas, what's wrong?' Aggie asked crouching to be on his level

'Please be quick.' Emma said a little too harshly. Aggie shot Emma a nasty look.

'Don't be a jerk, if you're in such a hurry go send your letter and ill sort him out.' Aggie said

'Sorry, Thanks, Sorry!' Emma called already half way down the hall. She sprinted to the owlery, gave Rufus the letter and told him to fly as fast as she could. She wasn't sure if he could understand but it gave her racing mind some comfort, after that her mind went back to Lucas. Why had he been crying in a storage room? The crying was more concerning that the storage room, but she never knew with that boy. Not that a storage room would have caused him to burst into tears, either way she needed to go and see what was wrong.

Upon arriving back where she had left Aggie and Lucas she found Lucas passed out, with Aggie checking his pulse.

'I leave you with him for five minutes!' Emma called out from the other end of the hall

'I didn't do this! He wouldn't stop hyperventilating, I think he passed out.' Aggie explained

'You think?' Emma mocked, close enough now to see Lucas' chest rising and falling with every breath

'Come on just help me get him to the nurse.' Aggie said standing up. The two girls heaved the Lucas to the nurse who put him on a hospital bed and told them to go back to their common rooms. Fred and George were no longer on the sofas, so the girls went straight to their room.

As they lay in bed waiting for sleep to take them they chatted.

'So, why was Lucas upset?' Emma asked

'I don't know. He passed out before he could tell me, I tried to calm him down, but he just wouldn't listen. I have the worst feeling it has something to do with you.' Aggie said

'Why do you think it has anything to do with me?'

'He seemed determined to talk to you, and when I opened the door he started crying again when he saw your face. It's just… weird.'

'You can say that again.' Emma sighed

'Well, no matter what it is, we can help him through it. And if it has something to do with you I can help you through it! I'm always going to be here for you, you know that right?' Aggie said

'Yeah, I know, and I'm here for you, always.'

That night the two girls went to bed thinking about Lucas and what could have upset him so much. Maybe it was because Emma had been avoiding him, but it could be anything.

Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying, as always, I appreciate a review! I'm sorry I'm not uploading much and I'm sorry nothing much happened this chapter but you're just gonna have to bear with me. Until next time!


	11. Chapter 11

The morning after Emma and Aggie had found Lucas crying in a storage cupboard they decided to visit him before breakfast. The two girls wandered to where they had left him with the nurse. However, by the time they got there Lucas was already gone, his bed made and no sign of him ever having been there was left. There was still no sign of him when they went to breakfast, and first and second lesson. He seemed to be missing the whole day, so during lunch the girls went to the heads office hoping to get an idea of his whereabouts.

Approaching the office, they could hear the faint murmurings of a conversation through the thick wooden door. They were about to press their ears to the door when it swung open sharply. Standing in the doorway were two adults that seemed slightly familiar. One skinny woman with wavy brown hair that reached her mid back wearing a white blouse and a pair of black trousers and one muscular suited man with a smattering of stubble around his chin that looked like he had forgetter to shave that morning. Behind them, with his head hung in shame was Lucas. His hair was tied back for the first time since Emma had met him and he was in full school uniform.

'Lucas!' Emma burst out upon seeing him through the gap in the stern looking adults. Lucas looked up quickly before returning his gaze to the floor when he noticed the woman shoot him a look.

She straightened out her blouse slightly with her hands and gave Emma a less than friendly look 'Miss Blackwell, I assume?' she said in a flustered manner

'Yes?' Emma asked, wondering what she wanted but she simply turned to look at Aggie.

'Miss Delacour.' The woman said as if she had met Aggie before.

'Yes Mrs.' Aggie responded, seeming calm and cool although she gave Emma a quick glance that showed they were in the same position as each other- completely lost.

Emma tried to move forward, ignoring the weird interaction and directing Lucas directly again.

'You put your hair up? It looks good.' Emma commented, finding anything she could to talk about

'Yes.' Said the woman. 'I've always said he's only allowed his hair long if he ties it back, clearly he hasn't been listening to me while he's been away.' She said sourly

'Oh, well… I mean no he, uh.' Emma stumbled over her words trying to thing of an excuse for Lucas

'Darling please.' Said the tall man to the woman standing next to him 'Shall we focus on what our own child has to say rather than someone else's?'

'I suppose we should.' The woman begrudgingly admitted as the man placed his hand on the small of her back and walked her away from Emma and Aggie. Aggie grabbed Lucas' arm as he passed

'Who are they?' she whispered

'Take a wild guess.' Lucas said dejectedly

'Parents?' Emma asked

'Lucas!' the man shouted from a short distance away

Lucas nodded at Emma and pulled his arm from Aggies grasp. He hurried over to his father who put a hand on his shoulder and guided him to the end of the hallway. Once they were out of sight Emma and Aggie walked to the dining hall in the hopes of a late lunch, as they walked they talked about Lucas and his parents.

'Do you think he's okay?' Emma asked

'With parents like that? I wouldn't be.' Aggie sighed

'Yeah,' Emma agreed, letting her mind wander

'He looked sad!' Emma blurted after a short pause of silence

'what?' Aggie asked, having been thrown off by the suddenness of her accusation

'He looked sad.' Emma repeated

'Not as sad as he looked last night.'

'I'm really not sure that's a good thing' Emma said, fed up with how little she knew about most things going on in her and her friend's life.

'Should we tell George?' Emma pondered aloud

'Tell him what? We saw Lucas being sad, then again with his parents but we don't know why? We can and I'm not stopping you but were giving him an unfinished story, we know no details.'

'Good point.'

'You can, just so he knows what's going on, and maybe he can give some context. I'm just saying your boyfriend is a know-it-all, but it doesn't mean he actually knows everything.'

'He isn't my boyfriend.' Emma defended

'Oh. Forget I said anything.' Aggie said bluntly

'That's suspicious.'

'yeah but is it as suspicious as when you started to 'practice flying' like every night alone together?' Aggie teased

'Don't be weird!'

'I won't be weird if you forget I said anything!'

'Fine! Its forgotten I promise!' Emma laughed

By this point the girls were almost at the dining hall, they could hear people talking loudly inside meaning they weren't too late to get some food. Emma reached to open the door, but Aggie stopped her.

'I know he's not your boyfriend but, do you like George?' she asked looking Emma straight in the eye.

'Of course, I wouldn't hang around him if I didn't like him.' Emma responded nervously

'I think you know what I mean, would you ever go out with him?' Aggie really didn't seem in the mood for any joking. Emma let her eyes wander as she thought about the question, would she ever go out with George?

'yeah.' Emma said softly 'I would go out with him.' She couldn't help but smile at the idea of going out with George.

'That's good to know.' Aggie said with a warm smile

'Promise you won't tell him?' Emma asked still with a warm smile from thoughts of her and George

'I don't think I need to tell him.' Aggie grinned

Before Emma could ask for an explanation Aggie opened the doors to the dining hall and strode in, straight towards Fred and George who were among the few people left at the Gryffindor table. The two girls sat down next to each other, opposing Fred and George. Aggie grabbed two ham rolls from a tray and began to eat while Emma took a moment to talk to Fred and George who had only crumbs left on their plates.

'Have you seen Lucas recently?' Emma asked

'No, I thought that's why you went to see the head?' George responded sounding rather concerned

'Did you find out what's going on?' Fred asked

'No, we didn't find out anything.' Emma said with a sigh

'We did meet his parents though, they were intense to say the least.' Aggie said swallowing a mouthful of roll.

'All we can do is wait.' Fred said, seeing that the conversation wasn't going anywhere

After a beat George perked up, he exhaled harshly before turning to the group and saying, 'Are you all ready for out next flying lesson?'

Aggie looked up from her plate then over at Fred who stood up as their gaze met.

'Are you okay there Fred?' Emma asked

'I just remembered I have a thing I need to do.' Fred answered

'Me too!' Aggie added, grabbing the leftover roll from her plate 'One of the professors needed to see us but we'll see you at last lesson, Bye!' and with that Fred and Aggie were gone.

Emma and George were left alone in a scarcely populated hall, sitting opposite each other. George took a deep breath,

'Okay…Emma. I like you. A lot.' George paused to check Emma's reaction, she was smiling kindly so he continued. 'Do you…'

'EMMA!' Aggie called from the door way.

Emma and George both looked over at Aggie, she looked scared and out of breath.

'Yeah?' Emma called out to her

'Your parents are here! they want to take you home!'

Hey! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. I always appreciate a review 😊 until next time!


	12. Chapter 12

'Mum!' Emma growled through gritted teeth, 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'Sweetie!' Her mum called opening her arms for a hug, but Emma didn't move any closer to her.

'What are you doing here?' Emma repeated less aggressively. Her mum slumped her arms down to her side and gave Emma a disappointed look.

'We wanted to check on you. Make sure you're okay'

'We?' Emma asked, 'Is dad here too?'

'Of course, he is! I wouldn't come here alone. He's gone to find you.'

 _Shit_ Emma thought, out of the two she thought her dad would be more relaxed and convince her mum not to come out to Scotland. She looked over to aggie who had kept a small distance as to not intrude then turned back to her mother.

'If you had waited just a little longer I sent you a response letter telling you not to come here!' Emma said trying not to sound as angry as she felt.

'You mean this scribbled out letter that looks like a kidnapper wrote it? Yeah that really made me feel as though you were safe!' her mum said pulling out the crumpled-up piece of paper from her handbag. She held the paper out to Emma who snatched it out of her hands and uncrumpled it to see the note she had written just last night.

Emma groaned and moved around to blow off steam while her mum looked on with a raised eyebrow.

'Where has dad gone?' Emma said finally stopping her pacing

'To look for you, like I said.' Her mum huffed seeming annoyed.

Emma thought about what she was going to do next, but clearly not too hard. She turned and ran away from her mum as fast as she could, grabbing aggies arm as she went making aggie run alongside her.

'Emma? EMMA!' her mum shouted as she sprinted away.

'What's the plan Em?' Aggie asked as they ran further and further away from Emma's' mum

'This was as far as I'd gotten.' Emma admitted

'Thanks for being honest. Maybe we should find your dad?'

'good plan, but he could be anywhere, and the school is huge!'

'Lets just look around, were bound to bump into him at some point.'

'We should ask the guys for help.' Aggie suggested

The two girls ran back to the great hall to find Fred and George sitting together talking in hushed tones.

'We need to find my dad!' Emma called

'What?' asked a startled George

'He's somewhere in the castle' Aggie explained

'And he needs to leave!' Emma said before darting off again

'Is he in danger?' George asked standing up

'No but they want to take Emma home' Aggie explained

The boys shared a concerned look before nodding at each other and jogging for the door with Aggie.

'We need to go to the common room.' Fred started

'Get Emma and join us there.' George said before sprinting away alongside his brother

Aggie kept running as she watched the twins depart and head for the common room, although she couldn't see Emma she knew she wouldn't have gotten far. She sprinted around the corner and just caught a glimpse of Emma turning a corner.

'Emma!' Aggie yelled but she didn't seem to hear her

She ran as fast as she could to catch up to a sprinting Emma, when she got close she reached out and grabbed Emma, hanging off her shoulder to stop her down.

'What? Have you found him?' Emma asked taking the moment to catch her breath

'No, but Fred and George want us to meet them in the common room now, let's go'

The girls, keeping up their normal pace, made their way to the common room. They were lucky enough to not have to pass Mrs Blackwell on their way there. As they scrambled into the common room they saw the boys looking shifty in the far-right corner.

'Guys, what do you want?' Emma asked impatient as ever

'We have something to show you, but you can't tell anyone.' Fred said

'What is it?' Emma asked

'Promise first.' George said straight faced

'I promise I won't tell anyone'

'I promise I won't either' Aggie chimed in

Satisfied with their promises Fred pulled from behind his back a large folded up piece of paper.

'What's that?' Aggie asked

'Just watch.' Fred said with a smirk

He passed the paper to Emma and pulled his want out from a pocket in his robe, he cleared his throat before pointing his wand at the map and uttering the words

'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'

At this the paper started to reveal markings all over it, the front read 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs are proud to present the marauders map'

'The marauders map?' Emma read aloud

'Just open it up.' George said with a smile

Emma reluctantly opened it and saw a map of the whole school appear before her eyes, and on the map, were various footprints, some moving some not with names underneath them. Emma shot a look at the twins before grinning in relief and searching the map for her father's name.

'Andrew Blackwell! There in the library. Let's go.' Emma led the way, not running for once but walking as fast as she could. George would periodically check the map to make sure Emma's dad didn't move

'Hey, Em?' George asked lagging just slightly behind Emma and Aggie

'What's up George? Is he on the move?' Emma asked looking slightly over her shoulder to try and find any sort of emotion in Georges face.

'No, but what's your mums name again?'

'Sarah, why?' Emma said coming to a stop and turning to face George

'I think she's in our common room?' George said not taking his eyes off the map.

'What?' Emma grabbed the map from George

'Maybe you read it wrong' Fred suggested

'No, he didn't.' Emma said jaw hanging open, staring at the map 'Two of you go find out what my mums doing, and someone join me to find my dad' she checked the map, her dad was still in the library.

'Who should go check on your mum?' Aggie asked

'Fred and George should, Mums already seen you hanging around me, but she doesn't know the twins are my friends. Everyone okay with that?'

'We'll keep the map and find you once we've dealt with her dad.' Aggie said, the boys nodded and ran off to the common room.

'This is too weird.' Emma said shaking her head

'Were gonna sort it out, don't worry about it.' Aggie said placing a comforting hand onto Emma's arm.

The girls took a moment so emma could compose herself before yet again checking Emma's dad hadn't moved and heading to the library.

When they arrived they paused to catch their breath before entering the library, they glanced at the map, her father was… looking at books? The girls walked through the centre walk-way, Aggie looking to the left and Emma looking to the right.

The library was quiet, first lesson had already started, meaning all four of them were going to get in trouble with professor Dumbledore, or worse, professor McGonagall, but they were too far gone now they had to round up Emma's parents and convince them to leave.

A few rows down Emma and Aggie found Emma's dad reading a book he had pulled from one of the shelves

'Dad!' Emma shouted, her father jumped backwards, and he shoved the book into a rucksack he had with him before turning and smiling at his daughter.

'Oh, it's you, you scared my baby.' Her dad chuckled

'What's that book your reading?' Emma asked, nodding to his rucksack

'Just a book about your school, thought I should educate myself on your new magical life.'

'You should put it back, it belongs to the school.' Emma said without a second thought

'So it does,' her father began puling the book out of his rucksack and placing it back on the shelf 'You're being very serious. Everything okay?'

'It will be, when you calm mum down, convince her she didn't need to come here and turn around and go home!' Emma said with a feigned cheesy grin

'Emma, I agreed with your mum that we should come get you. We think it's for the best.'

'Dad, you've got to be kidding me.'

'I'm sorry but this all seems so much, don't you think?'

'No! I love it here, I love my friends and my classes and the life I live here.'

'I'm sorry Darling, your mum has gone to get your suitcase and you're coming with us.'

Emma felt Aggies hand on her shoulder, her friend came closer and whispered in here ear

'Run.'

Without another word the girls sprinted out of the library, Emma's dad calling after them. They ran for a while before checking the map again, they uttered the necessary words and saw that Fred and George were still in the common room with Emma's mum. As they ran to the common room they discussed their plan, Aggie would go in while Emma waited outside. Aggie would bring Fred and George out and then they would plan from there.

As they got to the portrait of the fat lady guarding the common room door they didn't have time to even say the password before the painting swung open and out marched Emma's mum.

'Hey Emma, don't worry about getting your suitcase I've got it here.' She said heading away from the girls. The twins ran out behind her apologising profusely to Emma

'Try to keep up sweetie' Her mum called without looking at her. Emma ran after her trying to convince her to change her mind as they grew ever closer to the exit of the school.

'Mum, you don't have to do this.' Emma begged

'Yes I do, its not safe for you here.' Sarah countered

'How can you say that you don't know anything about this school.' Emma shouted, her mum stopped in her tracks and pointed an accusing finger at Emma

'I know more than you think.' Sarah said in a sinister hushed voice. Emma was taken aback by the sudden outburst from her mother

'Like what?' Emma asked, her mother looked as though something had been possessing her and it just left her body Intime for her to not have a legitimate answer.

'Like how someone made you fall off your broom during a flying lesson.' She said, before turning and storming to the entrance where Emma's father was waiting, checking his watch.

Emma turned to her friends who had trailed behind her and her mother, looking hopeless she embraced them all in a group hug.

'You're giving up?' George asked

'What else am I supposed to do?' Emma sniffed trying not to get too upset

'You'll be back after Christmas though.' Fred suggested trying to lighten the mood, Emma's silence shocked the group

'You will be back, right?' George asked

'I- I hope so.' Emma said through teary eyes, she hugged each of them individually before joining her parents. She gave a sullen wave as she watched Professor McGonagall approach her friends and escort them away.

'Do you fancy doing something? Go for brunch or maybe bowling? I'm sure we could find somewhere even in the country.' Emma's dad suggested

'No, I just want to go straight home.' Emma said, not looking up from the floor

'Oh, were not going home sweetie.' Sarah said smiling down at her daughter, Emma shot her a glare

'Where are we going?'

'We've been invited to spend some time with this wizarding family, you're best friends with their son apparently.'

Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing, 'I thought you wanted me to get away from the wizarding world?'

'They convinced us that they could teach us about their culture and wont you enjoy spending time with your best friend? Out of school?'

'But George is still in school? Am I supposed to amble around for a while waiting for him to get home?'

'George, who's that? Their son is called Lucas. Lucas Lowell.'

Hey guys! I'm sorry there was such a gap between the last chapter and this one, but I've made this one longer to kind of compensate? I really hope you enjoy the chapter (it was a long time in the making) and hopefully I won't take so long to publish 13. Shout out to Harley for helping me decide on Emma's mums name. reviews are always appreciated, Until next time!


	13. Chapter 13

The trip to the Lowell family's mansion was a long and tense one, no one talked much. Emma's mother would occasionally point at things as they passed the window, but nothing too exciting, there had been a field of cows, a particularly small tree and a cloud that she claimed was a perfect circle. They couldn't even listen to music, they couldn't get any signal for a radio station, the Lowell's home was deep in the countryside, their nearest neighbour was miles away and wasn't visible from the clearing in the woods they inhabited.

Pulling up into their drive made Emma feel like she was in a movie, she had never seen such a huge house. She had compared a few of her friends houses to mansions but this time it was true, there were stone steps that led to the towering double doors made of wood. She stared at the excess of windows that littered the front of the house, as the car came to a gentle stop the front doors swung open. A short skinny creature with a bald head and huge bad-like ears limped out of the house and over to them. Emma stepped out of the car to greet him.

Upon seeing Emma's quick exit from the car, the creature bowed his head and kept his distance from her as he opened the cars boot. He began pulling the family's cases from the car before closing the boot and hoisting up as many as he could using his weedy arms.

'Oh, let me help you with those.' Emma said grabbing one case in each hand.

'OH! NO NO NO! Please miss put those down.' The thing said with a great panic

'Its fine, seriously, I don't expect you to carry four cases on your own.' Emma said mustering up as kind a smile as she could. The creature whined uncomfortably while shaking his head vigorously. Without another word Emma placed the two cases back onto the two the thing was already carrying. Even though the cases were clearly too heavy for the poor thing he looked happy to be doing it, so Emma stopped resisting. However, she did walk alongside him as her parents strolled up to the front door.

'I'm Emma by the way.' Emma said, briefly looking over at what was now practically a walking stack of suitcases.

'I know miss, I've heard of you.' He smiled before his faced dropped and his head snapped away from her direction.

'What's your name?'

'Gadkey, miss.'

'Gadkey.' Emma repeated 'Its very nice to meet you.' She said looking down. She noticed Gadkeys face had gone bright pink.

'You doing okay there Gadkey?'

'Perhaps miss should catch up with her parents? I don't think miss should be talking to a house elf.'

'Woah, you're an elf?' Emma asked, 'That's so cool!'

As Emma said this she bumped into her mothers back, they had reached the front door and her parents were greeting Lucas' parents. Emma had almost forgotten she had met them both very briefly before, as they had been leaving Dumbledore's office. They seemed even more intimidating this time around, the Mans stubble had developed into a small brown beard that was kept trim and tidy. Even though they were at home they were dressed just as formal as they had at the school, as though they had just returned from work.

They eyed Emma up and down with an unreadable look on their faces.

'Miss Blackwell.' The man said, offering his hand to shake. Emma cautiously took his hand and noted how tightly he gripped hers, shaking it roughly before dropping it and turning his attention back to her parents.

The woman's gaze was longer and sterner than her husbands, she didn't utter a word to Emma, but she did order Gadkey to take her to Lucas then drop the cases in the corresponding rooms. Emma followed the house elf as her parents joined Lucas' parents in one of the front rooms.

Emma didn't like how big Lucas' house was, it didn't seem natural. It was far to big to seem homely, if you wanted a glass of water to go to bed with you might have to go through an obstacle course of hallways and staircases before you could come close to finding the kitchen.

'Big place.' Emma stated, looking over to Gadkey for any kind of response but he just nodded.

'It must be really easy to get lost in here.' She said, trying to start any kind of conversation to avoid listening to her footsteps echoing through the halls.

'So where do you live on your days off?' Emma asked, pleading for conversation using her tone.

'I don't get days off.' Gadkey replied rather bluntly

'What, like, ever?'

'I work all day every day.' Gadkey said, maintaining his bluntness

'Do you get payed well?' Emma asked, she knew this was an intrusive question, but she had a conversation and she wasn't willing to let it go.

'I don't get payed, I work for this family and they let me live here.'

'But… that's slavery. That's actually illegal isn't it?' Emma said getting flustered at this sudden revelation about wizard families. Gadkey stopped responding at this comment.

'Surely there's a way for you to get out of here?' Emma asked quietly, feeling less confident in her choice of topics.

'I can go free if my master presents me with a piece of clothing.' He said wistfully

'They don't seem like the type to care about other people.' Emma said under her breath. Gadkey didn't respond, he just pursed his lips and continued guiding Emma to Lucas

'Well Lucas is nice, maybe he'll give you a piece of clothing?' Emma suggested with a small reassuring smile. Gadkey stopped suddenly.

'Master Lucas' room' He announced

'Thanks, Gadkey, do you want me to take my cases off you?' Emma couldn't help but feel guilty since two of the four cases were hers, one full of her school clothes and supplies and one full of her casual clothes that her parents had brought her.

'No Miss, I shall take them to your room now.' Gadkey said limping away leaving Emma at yet another tall wooden door.

Emma tapped on the door and a monotone voice responded.

'Enter.'

Emma pushed the door open slowly, peering inside to see if Lucas was alone. Lucas was standing on a small raised cylinder just off the centre of the room, half surrounded by full length mirrors as he inspected his outfit. He was wearing a pair of men's black dress shoes with black formal trousers with a white long-sleeved shirt and a black tie, he tightened the tie then brushed off his waistcoat before taking his blazer off a mannequin just to his left and turning to see Emma. His face broke into a smile.

'Em! How are you?' he rushed over and embraced her, he took a step back and looked her over.

'You're still in your school uniform?' He questioned. Emma looked down, she hadn't really thought about what she was wearing, she was more concerned with the situation she had found herself in.

'Uh, yeah I guess so.'

'Hmm, that won't do. Let's go to your room.' Lucas insisted walking past Emma, pulling his blazer on. Emma's designated room was right next to Lucas' bedroom. Upon entering her room, she realised it was almost identical to Lucas' room. A double bed with mountains of pillows and a particularly comfortable looking duvet in the centre of the right wall. A large cupboard in the far-left corner, with a raised cylinder half surrounded by mirrors to the left of it and a large set of drawers next to that. A small chandelier hung from the centre of the ceiling but for now the light in the room was completely natural, the far wall was make almost entirely of windows, with curtains tied up at either side of it.

Lucas headed straight to the cupboard and swung it open wading through the masses of clothes hung up. After sorting through the many gowns, he turned to her, passing her a black dress he had pulled from a hanger.

'Put that on.' Lucas said walking over to the window, untying and closing the curtains.

'Do you need to close them? We're in the middle of nowhere.' Emma joked

'Yeah, but the gardener is out and I'm sure you don't want him to see you.' He said with a small smile, wandering back over to her.

'I'll wait outside the door, call me in when you're changed.' Lucas said heading to the door. Before he closed it, Emma called out to him

'Thank you, Lucas.' He didn't turn to look at her, but he stopped in his path for just a moment before closing the door behind him.

Emma fiddled with the dress trying to figure out how to put it on, she wandered over to the bed and threw the dress down. She pulled off her large clunky school shoes and began to undress, first her robe then her tie, her shirt and her trousers. Only her pants, bra and socks were left. She picked the dress up and pulled it on, it was a little bit big for her but not by much. She tried her best to pull up the zip on the back, but it was hard, she wasn't used to wearing formal dresses or many dresses at all. Her parents had always dressed her appropriately to play, in trousers and any old top.

'Lucas, you can come in now.' Emma called, raising her voice so he could hear her through the door.

Lucas walked in and looked her up and down.

'Give us a spin.' Lucas requested

'Uh, do you think you could zip me up before I do that?'

Lucas nodded, he walked over to her, lead her to the raised cylinder and zipped her up. She admired herself in the mirror, she couldn't remember a time she had ever felt so pretty. The thin black fabric was surprisingly warm, the dress was knee length, and had long sleeves with a scoop neck. The fact it was a little too big wasn't obvious just from looking.

Lucas caught Emma's eye in the mirror and she remembered his request, she span around and waited for his response. He looked her up and down once again, stopping when he looked at her feet.

'Take off your socks.' Lucas half suggested half commanded 'What's your shoe size?' He added. 'Size 6.' Emma pulled off her socks and watched as Lucas pulled a pair of black kitten heel pumps out of the cupboard. He placed them on the floor and gestured for her to try them on, as she walked towards them Lucas began pulling back the curtains.

'They're a little tight.' Emma pointed out to Lucas, he looked disappointed.

'They will have to do for now I'm afraid. Supper is in ten minutes, so we should head down.' Lucas took Emma by the hand and let her through the maze of his house.

When they arrived at the dining room doors Lucas checked Emma's dress and hair for any imperfections then did the same for himself. Upon touching his hair, he froze, he slowly brought his hands into his pockets and searched them frantically.

'What?'

'I don't have a hair tie.' Lucas said looking around as though he could find one lying on the floor

'Does it matter?' Emma asked in an attempt to calm him down

'YES! It does matter. I need to find one now, my mum will kill me!'

'Its just your hair calm down.'

'Go in now and keep them distracted, ill be back as fast as I can!' Lucas said running away and up the stairs.

A nearby clock informed Emma that Lucas had five minutes to run to his room, find a hair tie, do his hair and get back to the dining room. She took a deep breath, she didn't have to distract them for long she just needed to make small talk for five minutes.

Pushing open the doors revealed a huge dining room with a long table, a lace tablecloth running down the centre of it. Lucas' father sat at the head of the table, his mother was to his right, her back facing the doors. She didn't turn to see who had entered and neither of them greeted her, she closed the door trying to make as little noise as possible and sheepishly made her way to a seat. She took the seat directly to the left of Mr Lowell, Mrs Lowell watched as she sat down then gave her a small smile, it was the first time Emma had seen her face make any positive expression, it made her a little uncomfortable.

'You have a lovely home Mr and Mrs Lowell.' Emma said, remembering that she had to keep them distracted for Lucas.

'Thank you, but please call me Alistair, and call my beautiful wife Lyra.' Alistair said taking his wife's hand and giving her a warm smile. It was weird seeing such stern people be happy and in love, but it was also quite nice, it made them seem more human. She was so enthralled by seeing this side of them that she forgot she was supposed to be distracting them until Lyra broke the silence.

'Emma. I have a proposition for you.'

'Um, okay.'

'Since you will be staying here with us a while we would like to give you private tutoring.' Lyra said, still holding her husband's hand.

'What exactly would that be?' Emma asked weary of her offer.

'You will be taught how to dress, how to stand, walk, speak, dinner etiquette and we will use the school's curriculum to keep you up to date on school work.'

'Well that's very kind but I don't think my parents plan on staying here that long.' Emma said willing someone to disrupt the conversation, checking a nearby clock she realised Lucas had one minute until he was late.

'Well we will have you tutored for as long as you are here. I'll set it up for tomorrow.' Lyra smiled. Emma hated to say it, but her kindness was almost off putting. Before she could respond her parents walked into the room, they greeted Alistair and Lyra and sat down. A moment after they had sat down, Lucas came into the room, his hair tied back with a black ribbon.

'It is not polite to be late Lucas.' Lyra said sternly without turning to look at her son

'Sorry mother, I had to fix my outfit.' Lucas said not moving from his position by the door.

'Don't let it happen again. Take your seat.'

Lyra scared Emma, one moment she was lovey, being flirtatious with her husband and offering Emma tutoring then her son shows up barely late to supper and it's as if he betrayed her.

Lucas held his head high and placed himself in the seat next to his mother, across the table from Emma's mum.

Everyone was dressed formally, it was like no family dinner Emma had ever seen. Three women dressed in white blouses and black knee length skirts with white aprons covering them brought out six plates, each with a portion of Lasagne on it. Emma waited for everyone else to start eating before she picked up her knife and fork. She spent the whole meal in silence, as did Lucas. They let the adults talk while exchanging occasional glances and nods.

When everyone had cleared their plates Emma and Lucas were sent to their rooms while the adults stayed and talked for a while. Emma had to be led to her room by Lucas as she couldn't remember exactly how to get to her room, once there Lucas followed Emma into her room where they sat on her bed and talked for a while. Lucas took off his blazer and waistcoat, folded them and put them onto the floor.

'How was your first supper at the Lowell house?' Lucas asked laying on his back with his legs dangling off the side of the bed.

'Intense.' Emma said, she though for a second about what else to say about it. 'Your parents are weird.' She added not knowing how else to put it.

'How so?' Lucas said turning onto his side to look at her.

'Your mum was lovely before you came in, she was being all romantic with your dad and she offered me tutoring. Then when you came in and dinner began she was back to being stern and just weird!'

'Yeah, she can be like that. My _father_ too.' He put an odd emphasis on 'father' as though he wasn't actually related to him but rather he was his step-dad, Emma decided not to ask about it.

They sat chatting about nothing specific with long pauses between fragments of conversations until there was a tapping at the Window, at this point the curtains had been closed a while so the two crept over to the window and pulled back the curtains just enough to be able to see outside.

'There's no one there.' Emma whispered. Lucas looked closely before pointing to the windowsill outside.

'Is that Rufus?' Lucas asked squatting down to be closer to the owl's height. The brown and white bird was sitting on the windowsill with a letter hanging from its beak. Lucas opened one of the windows letting the bird hop in and perch on the raised cylinder on the other side of the room. Lucas pulled the window closed while Emma ran to Rufus.

'Its from the guys at school!' Emma said noticing Georges handwriting on the envelope. Lucas looked more concerned than happy.

'Emma,' he said turning her face to look at his 'I left this room before Rufus got here and you never told me about him or this letter, okay?' he said with a quiet tome and a sorrowful face.

'Sure.' Emma said, slightly confused. Lucas let go of her face, and quickly strode towards the door, without turning around he closed the door and walked off. Emma didn't wait long after Lucas had left to open her letter, she changed into a pair of provided pyjamas and tore the letter open as fast as she could. As she had guessed, George had written the letter, most of it anyway.'

' _Dear Emma, I thought you would like me to send Rufus to you and so why not add a letter on top? If you can please send me a letter telling me what's going on with your parents. Apart from that I hope you're doing well._

 _Emma! Its Aggie, what the hell just happened? Have you gone home? Are you coming back? This is important stuff girl you must let me know as soon as you can!_

 _That was Aggie, she stole my letter, Fred's dealing with her now though._

 _That sounds quite bad, I just made her sit on the sofa I promise I didn't tackle her._

 _That was Fred, people keep stealing my paper so ill just finish it here, I hope you're okay._

 _Love you, George xx_

 _And Aggie_

 _And to a lesser extent Fred'_

Emma clutched the letter to her chest and flopped onto her bed thinking about her friends. She put the letter under her pillow and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Hey guys! Long-time no upload, I'm going to stop claiming ill update soon, but I will try make sure to not make you wait too long! I hope you enjoy I worked hard on this chapter, I always appreciate a review, let me know how I'm doing! Until next time x


	14. Chapter 14

Emma was awoken the next morning by three loud, sharp knocks on her bedroom door. Waking up, she was dazed and confused, she forgot momentarily that she wasn't in her bedroom in Hogwarts, or even her room at home. The curtains were still drawn, and no sunlight appeared to be shining through the gap between the fabric and the wall. Emma sat up in bed, letting the duvet fall into her lap as she rubbed her eyes and adjusted to being awake yet again.

'Who is it?' Emma called, barely raising her voice.

'Mrs Hallister.' A high-pitched voice responded, enunciating every syllable possible.

Emma paused, scrunching one eye closed and raising one eyebrow, trying to rid her mouth of the morning taste while she thought over if she'd ever heard of a 'Mrs Hallister'. Before she got a chance to realise she didn't know the woman outside, her door opened and in walked a short curvy woman in her mid-60's wearing a formal navy dress with matching cardigan and shoes. She was holding a large handbag, the same navy colour as her outfit. She stopped at the foot of Emma's bed checking a small golden watch on her right wrist and pursing her lips slightly.

'Breakfast starts at eight am sharp, therefore you should get out of bed at six am.'

'Sorry, what? Who are you?' Emma asked, confused and slightly flustered at the woman's unexpected presence

'That's a silly question, and girls your age should only speak when spoken to. Get up and we can plan your outfit for today.' Mrs Hallister said, heading towards the wardrobe in the corner of the room. Emma swung her legs over the side of her bed, stretching her arms and watching Mrs Hallister put down her bag and grab the handle of the wardrobe. She opened the door and gasped dramatically, she covered her mouth with one had and clutched her chest with the other.

'Who allowed _THIS!'_ She cried, pulling out multiple pairs of trousers from the wardrobe.

'All that stuff was here when I arrived.' Emma said, confused as to what was so wrong with the trousers

'I'll make sure whoever was responsible is fired don't you worry dear.' She said folding the pairs of trousers in a pile and putting them out of the way.

'You really don't have to do that.' Emma sighed, wandering over to join the woman by the wardrobe.

Emma was taller than Mrs Hallister, not by much but enough for there to be an obvious difference, and Emma wasn't tall to start with meaning Mrs Hallister must have been the height of an eight-year-old from an adults' perspective.

'I insist dear, its not right for a woman to wear trousers.' She said scanning the content of the wardrobe. Emma went to defend trousers, but Mrs Hallister simply put a finger to her mouth and shushed her into silence, Emma just stood their awkwardly while Mrs Hallister pulled out different items of clothing, held them up to Emma, then put them in various piles. It was only a few minutes before the woman handed Emma a small pile of clothes and told her to put them on while she sorted through the rest of her clothes.

'You aren't going to leave the room while I change?' Emma asked feeling a little embarrassed about getting changed in front of a stranger.

''Are you not' and no, I will not be leaving the room. Just get on with it we have a busy morning and I am only here until noon.'

Although it was weird to get dressed in front of a stranger she didn't seem to be looking over at Emma, and she used the raised platform and surrounding mirrors to cover herself, even if only slightly.

Mrs Hallister had given her a pale blue dress that thinned at the waist then bloomed out slightly, the dresses sleeves were to her wrists and the neckline was high. She also had a pair of black kitten heel pumps to go with it. The dress didn't fit perfectly, a little baggy in the arms but it was comfortable. Mrs Hallister walked over with purpose after finishing organising Emma's mess of clothes. She examined Emma's outfit, giving the occasional gesture for her to spin or turn slightly to either side. After having a wide view, the short woman got closer and noticed the slightly baggy arms, she walked over to her bag that was still placed on the floor and rummaged through it before pulling a long thin wand out of it. She turned to Emma, and with a precise flick of the want Emma's clothing adjusted itself until it fit perfectly, no loose fabric around her arms or waist although the dress maintained its waviness from waist to hem.

'Wonderful!' Mrs Hallister exclaimed 'Les go to the dining room, I can start showing you dinner etiquette' She waddled over to her bag, picked it up and put her wand away as she headed to the door clapping her hands slightly as an indicator to Emma to follow.

Emma spent what felt like a lifetime listening to Mrs Hallister babble on about dinner etiquette, she would nod and look at the many utensils in front of her until she was asked to point to a certain fork or pick up a certain knife. The only slightly interesting part of her lesson was finding out that you only have to wait for everybody's food to be served to start eating If the food is cold, if the food is hot you can just start. Unless the queen is present, but Emma doubted she would ever be in the presence of any sort of royalty.

Just after Mrs Hallister finished explaining how to correctly hold her knife and fork Emma decided she couldn't take any more.

'Mrs Hallister, I hope you don't mind me asking but what time is it?' Emma asked trying to hide the boredom she felt so greatly from slipping into her tone of voice.

'One o'clock precisely, why do you ask?'

'Shouldn't I have had lunch by now? And I'm sure you have other students who need your attention in other houses with rich wizarding families… they're… common, right?'

'Supper is at one thirty, and all my students are still at school so no I don't have anyone else to attend to, but I am officially off the clock.'

'Well you surely don't want to be working over time now do you?' Emma said forcing a big smile onto her face. Mrs Hallister frowned at her watch and pursed her lips slightly.

'I suppose you're right, I'll be back tomorrow at nine sharp. Be up and ready in appropriate attire.'

Emma walked Mrs Hallister to the front door and waved her off as she rode away in a carriage, Emma often got confused as to why wizards used arguably primitive things like carriages and quills when things like cars and pens exist, but it felt wrong to question it.

Realising she only had half an hour until 'supper' as Mrs Hallister called it Emma decided to go talk to Lucas, she had just about managed to memorise how to get to her room from the main entrance so off she went.

Before she knocked on Lucas' door she brushed off her dress. *Knock* *knock* *knock*

No answer.

She waited a bit before knocking again. *knock * *knock* *knock*

Still nothing, she didn't know the house well enough to go looking for him, so she retired to her room. She decided to write a response letter to George, she searched through her dresser for paper but there wasn't any paper or pens but there was one A5 piece of paper and a few almost empty pens in the bottom draw of the bedside table. She put the paper on top of the bedside table and wrote a few lines trying to be brief.

'Hey George, I'm doing alright I guess, everything is just weird. My parents and I are staying with Lucas and his parents its intense, I hope you're doing okay and hopefully I can see you again soon. Love, Emma x'

She didn't have an envelope, so she just folded the paper then found Rufus and sent him off with the letter in his mouth. She checked the clock, she had a few minutes to get to supper, so she walked down to the dining room keeping an eye and an ear out for Lucas but to no avail.

She arrived at the dining room at 1:29, one minute to spare. She entered the room to find Lucas and his dad already sitting there, she could feel the tension in the air the second she opened the doors. She walked slowly to her seat and sat opposite Lucas, she tried to smile at him, but he was avoiding her gaze, so instead she glanced at his father, he gave her a small smile before glaring at Lucas. He could clearly feel his father's gaze weighing down on him as his head jerked up to meet his fathers cold look. He swallowed a breath then looked over at Emma and gave her a small smile before staring down at his plate and staying silent. He didn't talk when his mother and Emma's parents walked in the room, he didn't talk when the food came out, pretty much the whole meal he was silent until as he was leaving his mother called him back.

'Lucas,' she said straightening out his clothes 'We're going to talk with Emma's parents, you should go and spend time with Emma.' She looked him straight in the eye as she said the second half of the sentence, but he didn't look away like normal he held her gaze until she nodded to the doorway where Emma was standing. As Lucas passed Emma he grabbed onto her hand,

'Come on.' He said quietly as she began following him. He walked her out of the front door and out down the steps through the front drive and out of the gates she kept trying to ask questions, but he remained silent, head down marching forward always. It was weird walking through the woods in a dress, and Lucas was in his suit, Emma felt oddly lost even though Lucas seemed to know where he was going, and the house was still visible. After about five minutes of silently following Lucas he finally stopped, he let go of Emma's hand just before he turned around, but he didn't look at Emma.

'Are you going to tell me what's going on?' Emma asked slightly nervous

'You need to go Emma.' Lucas said still looking at the floor

'What are you talking about?' Emma said smiling nervously

'You don't belong here, you never have.' He said, something was wrong with his voice, but she couldn't tell what it was.

'Look, this wasn't my idea. I never wanted to leave Hogwarts.'

'That's not what I meant! You should never have been a witch, I wish you were a muggle.'

'I might not be a pureblood, but I have every right to be here, just like you!'

'You're not a-' Lucas began, finally looking Emma in the face

'Another thing, what's so bad about being a muggle? Muggles do amazing things _without_ magic!'

'If you were supposed to be magic why were you pulled off your broom!' Lucas raised his voice, Emma was taken aback for a moment not sure what he meant.

'Did you, make me fall of my broom?'

'No!' Lucas looked hurt 'But maybe I should have been the one to do it.' Tears started pooling in his eyes.

'Do you- do you know who did it?'

'GAH! I CAN'T DO IT!' Lucas yelled throwing his arms in the air

'What can't you do?'

'I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T' Lucas repeated over and over while punching a tree. Emma could see blood coming from his knuckles, so she instinctively grabbed his hands. He fell to his knees and she lowered herself with him, he began sobbing as Emma held his hands in hers.

'Tell me what's wrong and we can fix it together.' Emma reassured

'You need to run away.' Lucas said through hitched, unsteady breaths, holding Emma's hands a little tighter

'If your house isn't safe we need to tell my parents, I can't leave them there.'

'No, you can't tell them.' Lucas looked up at Emma, but he didn't look panicked he just looked sad

'What am I supposed to do then?'

Lucas put his hand on Emma's cheek, and she put her hand on his. She could feel the blood that had ran down his fingers transfer onto her face, but she didn't really care, he stroked her cheek with his thumb as he looked at her face as if for the first time.

'Let's run away together.' He said staring Emma dead in the eye

'What are you talking about?'

'Go grab anything you need, we can go on the run. It's the only way I can protect you.' Lucas spoke in a hushed serious tone that only scared Emma more. Lucas sheepishly took his hand away from Emma's face and waited for her to respond.

'Okay,' Emma said getting onto her feet, 'Lets do it.' She reached out her hand to help Lucas up and he took it with a huge smile on his face.

'You should go clean yourself up before we leave.' Emma commented gesturing to Lucas' still bloody hands, they were still bleeding but only ever so slightly most of the blood there was dried onto his skin.

'Yeah of course let's go!' Lucas got to his feet, rubbing away tracks his tears had left on his face.

The two made their way back to the house, they were walking far slower than they had as they had been heading into the woods, Emma couldn't help but wonder what was so dangerous in the Lowell family house or why is posed a threat to her specifically.

'What are we running from Lucas?' Emma asked turning her head slightly, so she could see him in her peripheral vision.

'What _aren't_ we running from! I just want you to be safe, I don't want you to have to go through-' He paused, almost stopping himself from continuing 'I just want you to have a happy life.' The atmosphere was immediately awkward, but they were close to the house, so Emma didn't have to bare it much longer.

As they approached the door Emma could see Lucas tense up, she offered her hand, he smiled and took it. They walked through the door together only to be immediately greeted by Lyra and Alistair Lowell blocking their path.

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter in case you can't tell things are close to the stories climax! I hope to get this story don't within the next few chapters, but we'll see how it goes. Exam season is growing closer so unless I write to procrastinate revising I wont upload for a while, you'll just have to wait and see. As always, I appreciate reviews, thanks for reading, until next time!


	15. Chapter 15

Lyra leaned down slightly and grinned at Emma.

'Well?' she said, as if she had asked a question.

'Mum,' Lucas began, Lyra quickly and sharply turned her attention to him 'Emma wants to talk a little more in the comfort of her room. If that's okay?' Lyra turned her attention back to Emma, she looked her over before standing up straight and stepping aside so the two could get past but only by passing in between both herself and Alistair.

As the two ran up the stairs Emma looked back to see Alistair holding Lyra by the waist, both waving happily. Nothing felt right anymore, Emma had never had to wonder what sinister motives lay behind a happy wave before she found out she was a Witch.

Lucas had led Emma to her room in a rushed walk, when they arrived he closed the door behind them peeking through until the last second looking out for anyone following them. He closed the door and let out a large sigh.

'Quickly, pack your things.' He demanded as he rushed over to Emma who was standing in the far end of the room.

'Wait, Lucas. You've got to tell me whats going on.' Emma grabbed onto an advancing Lucas' arms to get him to stop and look at her.

'Please stop asking me to tell you, it just puts me in more danger.'

'At least tell me who made me fall off my broom, I know you know who it is!' Emma demanded.

'I don't have to help you, you know! I could leave you here and run away on my own.' Lucas shrugged his arms out of Emma's loose grip and turned his back on her.

'No, you couldn't,' Emma said putting a hand on his shoulder 'If you could, you would have long before I got here. You're scared and its okay but if we work together we will be fine, so, just tell me, who did it?' Emma tried her best to use a soft reassuring tone. Lucas paused for a moment before looking slightly past his shoulder to address Emma

'I can't tell you.' Although she could only see half of his face she could tell he was sad. She sighed looking at this boy she had known for so little time, she worried about him, and she wished there was a way she could help him but maybe this was the best thing for him? And if it isn't they can always come back.

'Fine, I'll pack my stuff. What about you?'

'I've got some stuff ready packed in my room.'

'Meet me at the front door in twenty minutes, sound good?' Emma asked, brushing her hand down Lucas' arm to reassure him. He smiled at her sadly before nodding and jogging quickly out of the room closing the door after him.

Emma shoved as many clothes as she could into her case then ran to the front door in the hopes of finding her parents, so she could warn them, or ask for help. As she ran along Emma saw Gadkey, the house elf fiddling his thumbs and fingers moving nervously, he really was a sight.

'Hey, Gadkey, whats wrong?'

Emma's question only got her a high-pitched yelp from the poor creature, when he saw her holding her case he pulled harshly on both his ears and started to scream while keeping his mouth closed, Emma looked around in a panic not sure what to do to console him.

'Its okay Gadkey,' Emma knelt and took his hands, stopping him from pulling at his ears as she feared he would rip them straight off his head 'Whats wrong?'

'Emma?' a voice called out to her from down the hall

' _What now'_ Emma thought, without letting go of Gadkeys hands she turned to see who was talking to her, it was her dad.

'Hey, dad, whats up?'

'Why are you touching that?' Gadkey yelped and pulled his hands away from Emma

'His name is Gadkey and I was just checking he was okay.' Emma could hear the disgust in her father's voice and it confused and upset her, had he talked to Gadkey before, why was he so disgusted she was holding his hands?

'I don't care the reason, don't touch it.' Her dad took a step closer to her and looked down his nose at Gadkey

'Did you hear me? His name is Gadkey.' Emma stood up and tried to hide her case behind her legs

'Where is Lucas? Aren't you supposed to be having a talk with him?'

'We were talking, we are taking a break, why?'

'Has he told you yet?' her father asked reluctantly. Emma had no clue what her dad was on about but though that maybe if she pretended she did he would let on whats going on as opposed to trying to get Lucas to tell her again.

'Yeah.' She said, trying to not make it obvious that she had no clue what was going on

'Are you mad?' he asked

'Why would I be mad?' she asked, she was pretty sure he hadn't caught on quite yet

'I don't know, your mum thought you might be.' He shrugged

'So, uh, why did you get Lucas to tell me?' she asked trying to get as much information as possible

'Your mum again, thought it would be easier to hear from a friend or something like that. Well, a little more than a friend.' Her father smirked with that last comment

'What do you mean more than a friend?'

'I thought- how much has Lucas told you?'

'Apparently not everything? What do you mean more than a friend?'

'You should talk to Lucas about that, your mum might be mad if I tell you.'

'Please, Lucas can be hard to talk to, he never tells me anything!'

'He told you-' Her dad stopped 'What did he tell you?'

Before Emma could respond Lucas ran past her wand in hand and yelled 'Immobulus' Emmas dad froze.

'What the hell have you done?' Emma yelled

'He's fine let's go!' Lucas grabbed Emma's hand and began running to the front door, but Emma pulled her hand lose. When Lucas turned to confront her, she slapped him across the face, hard, he stumbled back a short distance before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground.

'Emma!' He yelled in a scornful tone as he got back onto his feet

'No Lucas! Tell me what the hell is going on right now! No more avoiding the question, no more running, no more secrets, and certainly no casting spells on my dad!' Emma had gone into overdrive, it had simply become all too much, Lucas looked slightly intimidated, she didn't like to do this to him, but he was being unreasonable.

'Do you know how scared my dad must be right now? He comes to live with a wizarding family to learn about a foreign culture and you freeze him!' Emma crouched down by her father's head 'You're okay dad, its just a spell, I'm sure Lucas can undo it.'

'You want the truth Emma?' Lucas asked not daring to look her in the face

'Yes, that's all I've ever wanted.'

'The wizarding world isn't a foreign culture to your dad.'

'Lucas this isn't time for a stupid cliché we all have magic within us thing.'

'No, that's not what I mean. Both of your parents are magic users.'

Emma didn't know whether to believe what she was hearing or not, she looked down at her father's frozen face, unable to show any distinct emotions. Surely not, surely her parents are muggles, she would have known if they weren't, it can't be that hard to tell especially if you've lived with the person your whole life.

'Gadkey, please take Mr Blackwell to the dungeon and lock him up.' Lucas said dismissively to the trembling house elf curled up on the floor, the creature quickly grabbed Mr Blackwell, snapped his fingers and vanished with Emma's dad.

'What the hell are you doing? You can't just lock my dad up!' Emma said in a harsh but whispery voice, if any of this was true she didn't want the whole house hearing what had just happened.

'I told you Emma, your dad is a wizard he'll be fine. As soon as someone asks where he is Gadkey will say out of pure obedience to my parents. He'll be out of there in no time.'

'You have got to be kidding me.' Emma said still trying to wrap her head around what had just been said

'I'm not. And like I said, he'll be out in no time, so we should go, _now!'_ Lucas didn't try to grab Emma from fear of being hit again. He picked up his case slowly and walked backwards until Emma picked up her case and started to follow him.

Emma saw Lucas pull his wand in to a defensive position as they descended the main staircase on their way to the main door. As they reached the bottom step Emma saw her mum walk out of the dining room,

'Immobulus' Lucas yelled, Emma recoiled not wanting to see her mother freeze but almost as soon as Lucas had cast the spell her mother called out 'Expelliarmus' and Lucas' wand flew from his hands and landed a few metres from his feet.

'Really Lucas?' Emma's mum frowned

'Mrs Blackwell, I didn't realise it was you!' Lucas said scurrying to get his wand off the floor. Sarah ignored him and turned to face Emma

'Emma,' her mum said, she said it as though she was about to ask her a question

'Carpe Retractum!' Lucas yelled before Sarah could continue, a long length of rope shot from his wand, wrapped around Sarah's' ankles and pulled her over. She hit the floor with a thud.

'You little shit!' She yelled as Lucas grabbed Emma and ran for the door, Sarah rolled onto her side,

'COLLOSHOO' She screamed, Lucas suddenly froze, but in a different way to her father. His feet were stuck. Sarah got up calmly and untangled her feet from the rope, she slowly approached Emma as Lucas tried to get his feet to move.

'Don't even try Lucas' she said coldly, 'Emma darling, follow me and I can clear this all up for you, okay?'

Emma turned to look at a struggling Lucas, but her mother stopped her by gently handling her face, so she was instead looking directly at her mother. Holding her hand tight her mother led her to the dining room which she had just emerged from, Emma caught one last glimpse of a struggling Lucas before the doors close and she is left alone with her mum and Lyra. Lyra was sitting down, and her mother sat next to her gesturing for Emma to take the seat opposite them, she sat cautiously.

'Now, lets clear up a few things.' Emmas mum said sighing 'What has Lucas told you?'. Emma thought for a moment, if what Lucas had said was true then does she really want to be telling anyone who will listen? She decides its best if she just tells the truth, after all, whats the worst that could happen?

'He hasn't told me much. All I really know is that you and dad know how to use magic and that I'm in danger.' Emma tried to read the women's expressions but they both had incredible poker faces.

'Well Emma I can assure you, you are not in any danger.' Lyra said with a wide smile. At this, Emma heard a small commotion outside the dining room doors, she couldn't quite make out what was happening, but she instinctively shot up out of her chair.

'Don't worry about that.' Her mother said grabbing her hand and leading her to sit down again 'Emma, I'm going to be honest with you, is that okay?' Emma nodded quickly, all she wanted was honesty.

'Theres is this wizard, he is an incredibly powerful wizard. Both your father and I support him and stand by his side, he believes magic is something very special that should be protected. Not everyone agrees with him, they don't care for magic as we do, they don't understand how wonderful it is and what power it holds and how we should protect it with everything we have.' Sarah spoke slowly as she explained to Emma.

'What does any of this have to do with me?' Emma asked with uncertainty.

WOAH its not like me to leave you on a cliff hanger! Anyone figured out who the 'powerful wizard' is yet? My exams are over this Friday, thank you for patiently waiting for the new chapter, hope it was worth it. Leave a review! Ill see you soon with what is potentially the conclusion to a magical experience, until next time x


	16. Chapter 16

Sarah stroked Emma's hair gently as she considered what she was going to say next, Lyra sat siently across from them on the table not making much eye contact, she too seemed to be considering what she would say if it had been her job to explain everything to Emma.

'This powerful wizard,' Sarah began slowly 'Wants to make all wizards appreciate the purity of magic as much as we do.'

'Who's we?' Emma quickly interjected. Sarah smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile she pursed her lips together and pulled them into a tight straigned smile, seemingly hiding her annoyance at Emma's question.

'The people who believe that magic needs to be _cleansed_ , that only pure bloods should have the right to use magic.' Emma recognised that word 'pureblood' Aggie had use that word before, saying that purebloods should be avoided. Emma's head spun, what was she supposed to do? Could purebloods really be all that bad?

'Can I talk to Lucas please?' Emma asked redirecting her attention to the rooms exit.

'Lucas isn't really in a state where you should be talking to him,' Lyra jumped in 'But, you can talk to one of your other friends if you'd like.'

'What?' there was no one in the house Emma considered a friend except Lucas, so she had no clue what Lyra was talking about. At that, the dining room door opened and in walked Aggie.

'Agatha!' Lyra cried happily 'Please, come and sit.' She gestured to the seat next to Emma.

Emma sat frozen, she had so many questions but none of them would leave her mouth, she found herself instead producing an incomprehensible squeak. Agatha turned and acknowledged her with a small nod before looking back to a still smiling Lyra.

'We'll leave you two to talk things over, shall we?' Lyra said, standing up and heading to the door with Sarah. When the door closed Emma shot up and paced around the table keeping her eye on Agatha.

'How did you get here? shouldn't you be in school? Why are you here? do you know whats going on? Hows George? And… and Fred of course.' Emma burst out with questions until the mention of George made her calm down. She hadn't thought about George for a while, she thought back to just before this mess happened, she was almost certain George was going to ask her out in the great hall and now she hadn't seen him in so long, she wondered if he had thought about her since she left.

'I got here using magic, some students released a load of creatures onto the school grounds, some more dangerous than others. We were just told it was easier to cut the term short by like a week rather than risk students getting hurt. I'm here because Lyra asked me to come and talk to you, I probably know more about whats going on than you.' Agatha reeled off one by one before pausing, getting Emma's attention and saying 'George is alright, he keeps talking about you, he probably wouldn't want me to tell you but hes lost some sleep over you. He doesn't know you're here, but he took Rufus when everyone went home so he'll most definitely write. Fred's fine too.'

'He lost sleep over me?' Emma got so caught up in hearing about George that she forgot about everything else, Agatha was about to respond when Emma changed the topic of conversation. 'Wait! What do you know about everything going on? Lucas was supposed to tell me but… I don't know I can't talk to him now I guess'

'Okay, what do you want to know?' Agatha asked, that threw Emma off, up until that point getting information from anyone had been an ordeal and now she could ask any questions she wanted?

'Who knocked me off my broom? Surely you know, Lucas does!'

'I do know but maybe I should give some background information before we get into all of that?' Emma nodded she had waited this long surely, she could wait just a few moments more.

'I'm guessing you know about our leader?' Agatha checked

'The one who wants to purify magic?' Emma confirmed

'Almost, essentially, he wants to purify magic _users,_ he believes only pure bloods should be able to use magic, and hes right! Look at us! Lucas, yourself and I are all purebloods and were far better at what we do than all of our mudblood class mates.' This was a side of Agatha that Emma had never seen before, it was almost scary to see her hate others with such a passion.

'What does this have to do with the person who tried to kill me?' Emma asked wanting to skip the background information she had previously felt indifferent about.

'Basically, This amazing, wise, powerful wizard wants to make the world better but theres some people who want to see magic crash and burn, one of those people is Dumbledore.'

'The headmaster? That doesn't seem likely.' Emma argued

'I thought that too, but our leader is never wrong. When it comes down to it, you had been selected to Kill Dumbledore,'

'What!' Emma yelled

'I know, I know, a terrible choice really. The person who made you fall was one of the back ups who was trying to prove that she was strong enough to kill Dumbledore and is arguably better suited to the position!' Agatha found passion in her words once again, talking as thought she was preaching to a crowd rather than talking to a supposed friend.

'Did you say she?' Emma said so quietly that Agatha couldn't hear her

'And I mean, if you had died, would it have been sad? Yes, Of course! A shame even! But some would say that's just further proof that I am perfectly capable of killing off an old crone!' Agatha stopped, realising what she had just said. Her gaze shot quickly to Emma who looked like a deer caught in headlights, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, breathing slightly faster than usual, and standing perfectly still.

'Shit.' Agatha muttered. Emma made a break for the door but before she could open it she heard Agatha yell out a spell and everything went black.

Emma woke up with her cheek pressed against a cold stone floor, it was strange, she hadn't been hit on the head, so she didn't have a headache, but the spell meant there was still a painless but annoying buzz floating around Emma's head. She looked around and saw Lucas laying flat on his back on the other end of what appeared to be a cell.

'Lucas!' Emma scrambled over to him but he hadn't been knocked out, he was simply laying on his back staring up at the ceiling.

'Yeah?' He asked annoyingly nonchalantly

'What are you doing?' Emma asked not trying to conceal her annoyance

'I dunno, thinking about everything.'

'We can mull over everything later, now is the time for action! Wouldn't you agree?' Emma said pulling against the cell bars and trying to fiddle with the lock.

'Its no use, its locked.' Lucas said not even looking over at Emma

'No shit Lucas!' Emma said not giving up her attempt at opening the lock

'Why are you even trying?'

'OKAY! No not dealing with this right now, you need to get your arse over here right this second.' Emma said in a commanding tone. Lucas pulled himself up slightly, leaning back on his arms and stared at Emma.

'Whats your problem?' Lucas asked managing to maintain his monotone voice

'Whats my problem! Whats your problem? There has got to be some spell to open this door, and we don't have time to deal with your whole, whatever it is, right now, okay? I get it, you've got family drama that you're gonna have to talk to the wizard equivalent of a councillor to about to get through it, but you know what? So do I! neither of us can give up just yet.'

Lucas slowly pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself down, after spending a little longer watching Emma fiddle hopelessly with the lock he walked over and opened the door by almost inaudibly whispering a spell. Emma fell through the door and scrambled quickly to her feet, flashing a huge smile at Lucas who couldn't help but smirk back.

'That's the way back to the main foyer of the house.' Lucas said gesturing lazily to a staircase to the right of their cell. Emma looked at Lucas momentarily, he didn't look back, he stared at the floor instead. Emma took one of Lucas' hands in hers, he looked up at her, it was unexpected but not unwelcomed. She placed her other hand on his cheek to make sure he didn't stop looking at her.

'Lucas. No matter what happens, from now on, ive got your back.' Emma said with a comforting smile

'No matter what happens, ive got yours.' Lucas responded but he didn't smile, he responded with a straight face. Emma let go of his hand and face and nodded at Lucas before heading up the stairs, when they reached the top door leading to the foyer they paused.

'Shit.' Emma said patting herself down

'Whats wrong?' Lucas asked

'I don't have my wand, I can't remember where I left it.'

'you put it in your case, right? We left that in the foyer but when you went into the dining room I was knocked out and woke up in the cell.' The two exchanged nervous glances 'Here's to hoping your case is still in the foyer.' Lucas went to grab the handle, but Emma grabbed his arm and stopped him.

'What?' Lucas asked, but Emma simply shushed him and pressed her ear against the door she could just make out what was being said.

'How is Andrew?' a voice asked

'He'll be fine, Lucas may be a sneaky child but he's not powerful enough to do much damage with the types of spells he uses.'

'What are we going to do with him?'

'I have an idea, but you might not like it.'

'As long as it works I'll try anything.'

The voices got even quieter then and Emma couldn't hear anything until fast footsteps signalled that they had made their way to another room. Lucas and Emma waited a short moment to be sure they could no longer hear voices before they opened the door.

They burst through the door ready to race to the exit but screeched to a halt and almost fell over one another when they saw Lyra waiting for them in the foyer, whoever she was with had left but they had no way of telling she hadn't left. They stood speechless for a moment, she had obviously seen them, but she hadn't yet done anything.

'Lucas,' Lyra said in the kindest way she could, with only mild distaste. 'I understand Emma has made you lose confidence in our leader?'

'Emma has nothing to do with this, and she won't be as easily swayed as I was so call him what he is! The dark lord, Voldemort!' Lucas yelled at Lyra. Lyra sighed and pulled her hand from behind her back revealing her wand. She turned her attention to Emma and with a snarl called out

'Crucio!' Emma immediately fell to the floor in pain, screaming at the top of her lungs, the pain was like nothing she had felt before, Lyra began yelling at Lucas, trying to converse with him over Emma's screams of pain.

'You would betray your own family for this girl?' Lyra yelled not stopping her spell as Emma continued to scream in pain on the floor.

'Stop it! Mum! Stop it please!' Lucas begged as he fell to his knees next to Emma, not wanting to touch her incase it made her feel even worse, if that was possible.

'Whose side are you on Lucas?' Lyra asked, 'Do you stand with your family or with the wizarding scum?' Lyra spat.

'Stop it! Look what youre doing to her! STOP IT!' Lucas continued to beg as Emma started to pass out.

'Prove yourself loyal!' Lyra demanded. Lucas stood up and stared at his mother, her couldn't help the tears welling in the corner of his eyes as he witnessed Emma get tortured. He took a deep breath and proved his loyalty.

'Avada Kedavra!' Lucas screamed with as much force as he could muster.

Everything went silent. His mother was no longer yelling at him. Emma was no longer screaming in pain. All that was left was the heavy breathing of Lucas, Emma and Lyra before the abrupt sound of Lyras body hitting the floor.

Emma continued to gasp and regain her strength as Lucas slowly made his way to his mother's body, he stepped gently around his mother almost afraid that she would wake up despite the fact he knew it was impossible. He hadn't used the spell lightly, he knew what it meant but it was the only escape he saw.

Emma managed to get onto all fours, she stayed there breathing heavily and looking over at Lucas until he kneeled down next to his mother.

'What was that spell?' Emma asked. Lucas didn't respond.

'How long do we have until she wakes up?' Emma asked, slowly getting to her feet.

Lucas sat for a moment, he wasn't crying anymore. The remains of the tears he'd shed still played at the corner of his eyes, but that was easily remedied by Lucas wiping his wrist over his eyes. His mother had fallen gracefully, everything she did had always been graceful, so it seemed fit that her last action followed suit.

'Shes not going to wake up.' Lucas shut Lyras eyelids and stood up.

'Your case is over there, go get your wand.' Lucas said holding his head high refusing to look at his mother. Without a word Emma made her way across the foyer and lugged her case onto its side, she rummaged through momentarily before finding her wand and closing the case again.

'We should find your case, so we can leave.' Emma suggested

'We're not leaving.' Lucas said darkly, he took a step forward, avoiding his mother's lifeless body 'The Ministry would have been alerted already that an unforgivable curse has been used, what we need to do now is make sure no one leaves the house.'

'Why?' Emma asked with desperation.

'If we don't keep them here they will escape, and they'll kill Dumbledore. Not just that, they'll kill every non-pure-blood and everyone who supports them.' Lucas avoided eye contact, but Emma didn't mind, she didn't like to admit it but he was probably right.

'Well, my dad is still in the prison cells, right?' Emma asked

'No, you would have heard him down there with us, they took him to his room, so he could rest.'

'Okay, at least we know where he is. Apart from that we need to keep an eye out for your dad and my mum.' Emma gave a solemn look over at Lyras body trying not to make it obvious to Lucas.

'And Agatha.' Lucas added 'Did she- did she tell you?'

'Yeah, she didn't mean to, but she did'

'I'm sorry I didn't tell you.' Lucas muttered

'It's okay, I get it now.'

'What now?' Emma asked solemnly. Looking at what Lucas had done to his own mother she dreaded to think how far he would go to bring the others to justice.

'If we can round them up and put them in the cells in the basement the ministry can decide what to do with them from there.'

'How can you be sure the ministry is even on their way?'

'They monitor all magic, so they know an unforgivable curse has been used. Trust me, they're on their way.' Lucas said in a monotone voice.

'Whats an unforgivable curse?' Emma asked

'The one my mother used on you was an unforgivable curse, as was the one I used on her.' Lucas looked at the floor, he still hadn't made much eye contact. Emma had more questions, but she thought it best to leave Lucas alone, instead she grabbed his hand prompting him to make eye contact and smiled at him.

'We should get a move on if we want to round everyone up.' Lucas, maintaining his straight face nodded slightly and allowed Emma to guide him to the top of the stairs before taking the lead. Travelling through hallways that were unfamiliar to Emma the pair remained mostly silent, wands at the ready, peering past corners before following through and continuing. They arrived at a door and Lucas stopped.

'This is your parents' room.' Lucas whispered

'So, my dad should be in the bed resting up?' Emma checked. Lucas responded with a slight nod. He then cracked the door open slightly, after seeing Andrew on the bed he turned to Emma and gave her another nod. He opened the door just enough to reach his arm in.

'Immobulus'

Emma took a deep breath, she knew what her parents were doing was wrong, but it was almost impossible for her to picture them purposely choosing to support the bad guys. She tried to put the thoughts out of her head knowing that the important thing was to round the others up, so the proper authorities could deal with them, although she maintained hope it would be discovered her parents were being blackmailed or tricked, anything that would mean they weren't really at fault in any way.

'My dad and your mum left.' Lucas announced barely louder than a whisper.

'And Agatha.' Emma added. Lucas sighed before saying

'Right, Agatha.'

'Something wrong?' Emma asked

'Agatha is crazy. By anyone's standards, she's eleven yet she would willingly kill Dumbledore, a good man. In fact, she wants to do it, she almost killed you trying to prove shes the one for the job. Arguably shes worse than any of our parents.' Emma didn't know what to say, there was nothing she could say to console Lucas because what he was saying was right, and if she continued to deny her parents involvement it could ruin Lucas, making him think his sacrifice was for nothing.

'You're right, she sucks. But what we're doing is the right thing to do,' Emma paused questioning the accuracy of her words 'So, we should just power through and hope the ministry get here quickly.' Emma put a comforting hand on Lucas' shoulder, a gesture she used often that Lucas was becoming more and more appreciative of. Lucas placed his hand on top of hers and smiled sheepishly.

'Did you ever think it would come to this?' he was trying to make the phrase sound as though Emma could relate but he was quietly trying to understand the fact he had killed his mother on a deeper level than he currently understood it. Emma could sense this slightly, instead of responding she pulled Lucas into a tight hug, her arms wrapped around his waist and he leaned down slightly to lay his head on her shoulder. When an appropriate amount of time had passed she let go and gave him a moment to gather himself before they continued.

As they headed back to the foyer to do a sweep of the ground floor they came across Sarah standing at the top of the stairs as if she anticipated their arrival.

'This is your last chance Emma, if you stop this nonsense now we'll forget everything you've done.' She spoke with a cold dark tone that sent shivers down Emma's spine, she had never seen this side of her mother before, prompting her to argue with herself once again about if this really was her mother. She knew she couldn't keep denying it.

'But what about you?' Emma asked, her mother gave her a questioning look 'You expect me to believe you have a clean conscience with what I've seen?'

'And what exactly do you think you've seen?' Sarah asked putting emphasis on the word 'think'

'Lyra cursed me, I thought I was going to die. The way Lucas is treated is appalling. Agatha tried to kill me! If this is how your 'all powerful' leader is treating kids, then I won't believe you haven't done horrible things. You raised me to be smarter than that.'

'I also raised you as a muggle, I thought that would truly make you understand how beautiful and amazing magic is! I thought you would understand that magic needs to be protected from the filthy blood that threatens it!' Sarah talked passionately about magic and its beauty, but it had become sinister since Emma had learnt about her leaders plan to 'get rid of' wizards that dont have 'pure blood'

'Shes lying to you Emma.' Lucas said under his breath as if Sarah's speech could actually change Emma's mind about such a serious topic.

'That's not true.' Emma said, not a hint of questioning in her voice 'Why did you really raise me as a muggle?' Emma took a step towards her mother. Sarah took a moment, laughing to herself slightly.

'I raised you as a muggle.' she glared slightly at Lucas before she continued 'Voldemort, our leader. He went away when you were very young. Your father and I made the smart decision of raising you away from the wizarding world so we could keep a low profile and so we wouldn't get caught.' Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing, her parents must have done something really horrible to have to go into hiding. She stood processing the new information for a short while before being snapped out of it by the appearance of the Lowell house elf, Gadkey.

'Take them both to the cells in the basement.' Sarah ordered, but Gadkey didn't move, it was easy to tell he was scared but something in him meant he just didn't move.

'Pathetic! Don't you work?' Sarah said giving Gadkey a harsh kick in the ribs causing him to fall to the floor with a thud. 'You're ruining everything! You need to stop messing with your masters!' Sarah all but yelled as she raised her wand to attack Gadkey

'NO!' Emma yelled as she made a dive for her mothers' wand, she just managed to grab the end of it as she fell to the floor just above the steps but the way she had fallen into her mother caused her to fall backwards. With no wand to protect herself Sarah fell violently backwards down the large flight of stairs. What had before seemed lavish was now horrific, Emma watched as her mother hit every step on the way down before she landed sprawled out disturbingly at the bottom of the stairs arms bent in unnatural angles. Running to the bottom of the stairs followed closely by Lucas, Emma realised that it wasn't only her arms that were out of place but her neck too.

Emma buried her face into Lucas' chest, she wasn't crying but the shock meant she needed someone to console her. Lucas remained silent not knowing to say, he had killed his mother out of need and choice, but Emma's mother had been a complete accident, she just wanted to protect an innocent house elf. After a short while of silence Emma pulled away from Lucas and glanced quickly at her mothers' body, both Lucas and Emma had lost their mothers in the same day.

'A muggle death for a muggle hating monster.' Emma sniffed, she clearly didn't mean it, but she needed to say something, anything. And it was the first thing that came to her mind. The pair called Gadkey down and asked him to move the body, it didn't seem right to Emma to leave her mother in such a state. Moving ever forward became harder now as the thought of her mother's body continued to play on Emma's mind, she fell into a quiet state, following Lucas without so much as a muttering of words.

After doing another sweep of the house the pair ended up back in the main foyer of the house, no body in sight. They decided to take a short break, sitting at the bottom of the stairs.

'The people from the ministry should be here any minute,' Lucas said, breaking what had become a rather uncomfortable silence between them. Emma gave a small hum of acknowledgement before reverting back to silence.

'Do you miss George?' Lucas asked. Considering their circumstances, the question was a small shock, though, Emma supposed he was just trying to keep her mind off of things.

'Yes. It wouldn't have been all that bad, but it just happened so suddenly. One moment we're talking in the great hall, next we're looking for my parents and before you know it I'm being dragged away.' Emma sighed, it sounded so simple when she put it like that.

'You know what he was going to ask you right?' Lucas said, eyes fixed on the large front door anticipating the arrival of anyone from the ministry who could help.

'What do you mean?' Emma asked, trying and failing to catch his gaze

'Before your parents got there, George was going to ask you to go out with him.' Lucas said nonchalantly. Emma froze, was that really what he wanted to talk about at a time like this.

'You don't know that, you weren't even at the table with us.'

'I overheard him talking to Fred about it the day before, he was going to ask about a flying lesson to signal the others to leave. He really likes you Em.'

'Regardless, maybe we should focus on what we're doing now as opposed to what almost happened in the past.' Emma took a deep breath, she thought talking about George would cheer her up, but it only made her realise just how much she missed him.

'I'm sorry I dragged you into this whole mess.' Lucas sighed running his hand through his hair.

'Don't be an idiot!' Emma raised her voice 'Stop blaming yourself for all this! Its our parents who dragged us both into this, you've done nothing wrong!' Lucas sighed again, heavier this time. He stood up straight and proceeded to relocate to a place on the floor where he lay facing the ceiling, hair sprawled across the floor. Considering his mother didn't like it long it seemed to have grown quite a bit since he had arrived home, it was now down to his shoulders.

Emma watched as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths, in that moment he seemed so calm, like nothing else mattered.

'Not long now.' Emma said, hoping to help maintain Lucas' calm nature. Lucas smirked and laughed a little, it was nice seeing him happy for once.

'LUCAS!' Roared a voice from upstairs, both kids jumped up and raised their wands as fast as they could, Alistair, Lucas' father was at the top of the stairs. His eyes were red and puffy making it clear he had been crying.

'You FOUL child!' He yelled, stumbling slowly down the steps grabbing the bannister to support himself as he went. 'What have you done?' His voice came as a low grumble like thunder, 'What have you DONE!' he spat, now halfway down the stairs.

The pair stood silent, unsure of what to do or say. They watched as Alistair wiped his eyes and then his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. His wand was pointed threateningly, moving constantly between Emma and Lucas. As Alistair reached the bottom of the stairs his knees seemed to buckle, and he fell to the floor, he maintained the threatening wand position as he let out a yell.

'I am going to KILL you! You EVIL child!' Alistair shouted beginning to well up. Tears streamed down his face as he pulled himself to his feet using the banister of the staircase.

'Sir, please.' Emma started hoping beyond all hope that Alistair could be reasoned with.

'Everte Statum!' Alistair went red in the face from screaming the spell, which hit Emma square in the chest flinging her backwards, causing her to hit the wall with a harsh thud and winding her. After hitting the wall, she slid to the floor and stayed there trying to catch her breath.

'Dad! Stop it!' Lucas yelled, a harsher approach than Emma had tried but she was too out of breath to suggest not aggravating him.

'How could you Lucas? Your own mother?' a fresh wave of tears leaked out of Alistair's eyes, but he quickly wiped them away 'You were a good kid before you met that bitch.' Alistair said gesturing to Emma as he spoke.

'I wasn't a good kid!' Lucas practically screamed 'I was complicit!' Lucas looked over to Emma who was pulling herself to her feet still trying to catch her breath. 'Emma helped me realise that.'

'What exactly did she do?' Alistair asked in a disgruntled tone

'I thought she was a muggle born, that's what Agatha told me. _She_ THOUGHT she was a muggle born, but she didn't treat people differently, she was kind and nice, pure blood or not! Why can't we be like that?' the amount of desperation in his voice was enough to make a grown man cry, but not Alistair he simply gritted his teeth and looked angrier that Emma had ever seen a person look in her life.

'We can't be like that,' Alistair started sounding just as angry as he looked 'because we are pure bloods. We. Are. Better.' Lucas look as though he might cry, he didn't raise his wand, but Emma could tell he wanted to.

Taking the moment of silence and using it to her advantage Emma pointed her wand at Alistair

'Confringo' Flames burst onto Alistair's arm, he frantically waved his arm trying to put it out as Emma made her way across the foyer to Lucas.

'You okay?' She asked quickly

'Yeah, no, don't worry about it.' Lucas tripped over his words still thinking about what his father had said.

'Bombarda maxima!' Alistair yelled frantically pointing his wand at the two kids.

'Duck!' Lucas shouted, pushing Emma to the ground. The spell blasted past them and hit the door but the rubble bursting out hit Lucas and he fell sprawled out on the floor, a few small pieces hit Emma, but she had braced herself.

With the door, and some surrounding building gone five Wizards rushed through the gaping hole. A short fat man called out a spell that chained up Alistair, one detained Emma, one picked up Lucas and walked him out of the door, body still limp, and the other two ran off, wands at the ready and searched the house.

Emma was escorted to another location where she was questioned for about twenty minutes, they gave her truth serum as to waist no time. After she was done with questioning Emma was allowed to visit Lucas, he was sitting in a hospital bed, tucked in tight. If it wasn't for the small gashes on his face he would have looked peaceful.

'Its okay Lucas, we're safe. We won. You just need to wake up.' Emma whispered, placing her hand gently on the back of Lucas' hand.

Emma waited in silence for half an hour before a tall thin woman with a long pointy nose and a tight blue dress came and told her Alistair and Andrew were to be taken to court and charged for their crimes. She told Emma about a prison called Azkaban where their fathers would most likely be sent.

'What about Agatha?' Emma asked the tall thin woman

'Who?' her shrill voice was piercing

'The five people were our parents and Agatha Delacour.' Emma explained

'I'm afraid the only people we found in the house were your parents, but I'll be sure to put a notice out about Miss Delacour.' The woman said as she wrote something down and left the room.

When Lucas' eyes finally fluttered open Emma smiled and laughed slightly from relief.

'Hi there, nice of you to join us.' Emma smirked holding back tears of joy.

'You know me, always fashionably late.' Lucas forced a small smile to pass over his face before sitting up in the bed with only a few grunts of mild pain. Emma told him everything that had happened since they had left the house.

'What about Agatha?' Lucas asked, concerned.

'They didn't find her.' Emma admitted, Lucas looked scared. 'But, hey. We did it. Were out of the shit for good.' Lucas smiled but it was obvious he didn't really believe her.

Almost immediately after, George and Fred showed up with a woman Emma assumed to be his mother and two younger ginger kids that Emma vaguely recognised from a photo George had showed her.

'George!' Emma called out with excitement when she saw him, she ran to him and pulled him into a big hug.

'Good to see you too.' Fred said smirking.

'Hi Fred.' Emma laughed.

Emma explained to them what had happened starting from when she was sent into the woods with Lucas and ending with their entrance. They all remained silent, in awe of the story, with Mrs. Weasley telling the younger kids to cover their ears when she got to more scary parts of the story.

'Where are you going to go now?' George asked

'I don't know, I suppose I might have to go to a foster home. Both my parents are only children and none of my grandparents are alive anymore.' Emma said thinking as she went along about where she might end up.

'Well that won't do.' Mrs. Weasley said abruptly 'You should come and stay with us until we can find you a relative to stay with. And if we can't? I'm sure we can find room for you at our house for an extended stay.' She said with a kind smile

'Are you sure?' Emma asked astonished

'Of course, dear.' She insisted

Lucas sat in the background twiddling his thumbs trying not to draw too much attention to himself, Emma went over to the side of his bed.

'Whats going to happen to you?' Emma asked as politely as she could

'Ive got family I can stay with, ill be fine. What about you?'

Emma looked back at the family of gingers behind her, Mrs. Weasley was wiping the youngest girls face with her thumb, while the youngest boy refused some dodgy looking sweets being offered to him from Fred while George stifled a laugh.

'I'll be just fine.' She smiled.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading I hope you've enjoyed my story! Please leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter and over all story. Would you guys want me to do an epilogue or perhaps another story set a few years in the future? Let me know! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you will join me again when I write another story, whether it's in the wizarding world or not 😊 until next time x


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